Sweet Redemption
by brainysmrf
Summary: This is the 3rd installment in the series about Booth giving his heart away, losing everything and the road back home.
1. Chapter 1

This is the 3rd installment in my Sweets series (even though it's not really about Sweets at all anymore - Booth has taken it over and I'm sure we're all ok with that), the first one was Sweets Origins and the sequel was Emerald Abyss.

"It's a sad man my friend who's livin' in his own skin  
And can't stand the company  
Every fool's got a reason for feelin' sorry for himself  
And turning his heart to stone  
Tonight this fool's halfway to heaven and just a mile outta hell  
And I feel like I'm comin' home."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Better Days_

"Dude, what are we doing here? Are we in trouble?" Hodgins asked nervously looking around the FBI conference room that he and the rest of the Medico-Legal lab team had been, his eyes leveled on Brennan, "Did you shoot someone else?"

"No, I did not. _And_ I have no idea what we're doing here. Do you Cam?"

"All I know is that some changes are being made and they want to discuss them with all of us." Cam folded her hands in front of her, trying to not let on that she was miffed that she had not been notified of these changes prior to the rest of her staff.

"Maybe they've decided to make us honorary members of the FBI – give us badges and guns. You know, all the good stuff." Angela mused.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen. It's bad enough that Bones got her hand on a gun, the rest of you …will not." Booth said with a smirk as he entered the room with Sarah in tow.

"Booth…what are you doing here?" Brennan's first instinct had been to flee but she wanted to wait for a response.

He stepped closer to her and quietly said, "We discussed this after Christmas, the job offer? I decided to take it."

"Wait Sweetie, _you _should have told me that there was a chance he was coming back!" Angela countered. "By the way Booth, gray suit, purple tie – very dapper – very, very hot."

"Hello Angela? Man you share your bed with right here." Hodgins pointed at himself.

"Jack get a little more secure – we're going on 5 years, the chances of me bolting 'cause a hot guy in a fab suit comes waltzing into a room."

"Booth, you should have told me you were coming back!"

"Ok, let's not get all bent out of shape about who should have told who what – let's get down to the business at hand."

"It's whom, who should have told whom!" Brennan stood, "I know what you being here entails, you did tell me about the new job. I'm going back to the lab."

Cam stood to stop her but was cut short by a look on Booth's face that told him not to. Booth's first instinct was to go after her – that had always been his first instinct when it came to Brennan but now he had a unit to run.

Brennan stopped her quick pace when she got to the elevators, she was flushed and breathless and half expecting to see Booth turning the corner at any moment to coax her back into the meeting. She counted to 20 steamboats and when there was no sign of him she got on the elevator and headed back to the place where she could clear her head – her lab.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well if she wants to see me  
You can tell her that I'm easily found  
......And tell her there's a darkness on the edge of town."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Darkness on the Edge of Town_

After leaving the Hoover building, Brennan spent the rest of her day buried in limbo – avoiding all living human beings. It was well after 8pm when she finally decided to leave the lab. She wasn't quite ready to go home and everyone else had already left for the night so she decided to visit a place she hadn't been in a very long time.

As soon as she opened the door and heard that familiar bell ring on the door she knew why she had stayed gone for so long. For all the good times spent there – the good times didn't feel so good anymore. She readied herself to take a seat at the counter when she saw him.

His back was to her but she would know the cut of his shoulder and the curve of his neck anywhere. Booth, in their diner, in their booth. Almost as if he had been waiting for her.

Brennan walked up behind him and saw that he was having his standard burger and fries with a smile plastered to one her face she tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "Is that meat sweet, rich, super lean and soft?"

He dropped his burger and looked up at her, "No, its awful. It's cold. I thought you'd be here much sooner than now."

"You were waiting for me?" She asked as she took her assigned seat – a seat that had been silently assigned to her years before.

"Well, after you stormed out of the meeting and…I just thought that maybe we'd run into each other here or there but mainly here."

"Sorry about the meeting. I was…I…"

His face softened, "You were surprised and I should have told you that I would be here."

"Yes, you should have…Why didn't you?"

"I made the decision based on something illogical and irrational and I didn't think you'd approve."

"Whatever made you want to come back – I approve of." She flagged down the waitress and asked for a cup of tea.

"I-I don't know Bones, I was on the fence for weeks and then…" He trailed off.

"And then what?"

"And then New Years and I saw something that I hadn't realized I was missing."

"What was that?"

"You and that dress." He couldn't look at her, his face was flushed and he started to bounce his leg uncontrollably.

"It's ok, Booth a lot of men commented on how attractive I looked that night…"

"Bones, you always look attractive but it was something else, the way you carried yourself into that ball room. You were a fully developed, confident woman who owned every step she took. I hadn't realized that I missed that transformation."

Brennan gasped and bit her lip, speechless.

"I told you that you would think my decision was baseless and irrational."

"And I told you I didn't care why you came back…. You know, Booth. I'm glad you're here and I know that things are different – we're different but I hope that…"

"Me too, I hope too…" Previously with a statement like that his face would have been lit with a thousand points of light but all Brennan could see was a single, dim light trying to shine through the darkness that he had been living with for the past 3 years.

"I want you to know that I don't have any expectations. We're different people now but I would like to get to know this new version of you – Seeley Booth in the impeccable grey pin stripe suit, wide purple tie and no noticeable ironic belt buckle."

"Well, the suit was a gift from Becca, she said that a Deputy Director shouldn't be wearing a cocky belt buckle or skinny, Sinatra tie so…here I am." He ran his hands up and down his chest.

"Well, I agree about the belt buckle, I liked the skinny ties – they gave you flare and helped you stand out from the rest. Even though you never needed a tie to do that for you…Deputy Director Booth, that has a great ring to it doesn't it?"

"I think so…this has been great but…"

"You have to go?" Brennan knew this was coming – this talk was as intimate as they had been since that dance on New Years and she knew that he would need time to adjust to it.

Booth once said that she couldn't be rushed but it appeared now that he was the one that couldn't be rushed. And Temperance Brennan was a patient woman.


	3. Chapter 3

"For the ones who had a notion,  
a notion deep inside  
That it ain't no sin  
to be glad you're alive."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Badlands_

As Booth headed home from the diner that night he took the long way back to his new house, driving the streets of DC trying to reacquaint himself with the city. Everything seemed different but it wasn't really, he decided that things looked different because his view was different. He was use to traveling the streets up high in his FBI-issued-SUV but tonight he was cruising the streets in his Camaro, which sat much lower to the ground.

He rubbed his hands methodically back and forth across the steering wheel of his baby. He loved that car – it represented something to him, something good and tangible that came out of 3 years of pain and exile.

He thought about Brennan and how even though she was 2 hours later than he expected she still showed at the diner, still willing to talk. He wondered why she was so willing, not that he was complaining, he had been there hoping to see her but what did he have to offer her now? They weren't partners and they hadn't been what they once were for years but yet she still seemed to be yearning for a connection with him. A yearning that he felt too, one that excited him and terrified him at precisely the same moment. He sighed to himself, nothing with Brennan had ever been easy.

His phone rang, "Booth…Hey Finn…sorry just ate…no really I just ate at the diner…alone and then with Bones…no…no…she just kind of showed up while I was there…maybe I thought she'd…the new office is fine although I may ask about getting my old one back….well, the new one is too big….yes, I know change only happens when we actually make changes…you are such a stinkin' shrink sometimes….yes, dinner tomorrow night….I'll be there…g'night…you too, Finny." He snapped the phone shut and threw onto the passenger seat.

He hated to admit and even forced at gunpoint he'd be hard pressed to say it but he loved that Sweets and Finn cared so much about him. He knew that Sweets did it because originally it was a professional duty and then it became personal but Finn – she was in another category all together. She did not stand for his bull-shit and not once since he met her had he been able to lie to her – that got annoying.

It was late February and there was still a bit of a chill in the air but he felt the need to roll the windows down in the car anyway. He felt alive, he felt good and for the first time since the night that Brennan got that fateful call about Gwen he didn't feel ashamed for feeling happy.


	4. Chapter 4

"So let the games start

You better run you little wild heart."

- Bruce Springsteen, _The Price you Pay_

The next morning Brennan arrived at the Jeffersonian at her normal time and was watched closely by her co-workers as she made her way through the lab to her office. By all accounts she seemed fine, almost chipper. Angela took this as a good sign and made her way over to say good morning to her friend.

"Hey Sweetie, all better today?"

"I was fine yesterday, Angela."

"Right, so that's why you spent your entire day in limbo?" Angela asked as she leaned up against the doorframe of the office – still unsure if it was safe to entire completely.

"We get so caught up with our FBI cases that we forget that there are literally thousands of unidentified persons that we could be focusing on."

"Bren, this is me. Don't talk to me like you would a stranger. Seeing Booth yesterday threw you a curve ball. That's why you were in limbo all day."

"I know don't know exactly what you mean by curve ball but I'm assuming you mean that it surprised me… Yes, seeing Booth yesterday it…well, it unnerved me, a little."

The ice was melting so Angela carefully stepped into the office and took a seat across from Brennan. "A little? You ran out of there like a bat out of hell – you should have seen the look on the poor guy's face. I think he was excited to see you. I think he may have even been trying to surprise you."

"That's not…He wasn't trying to surprise me, Ange."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, yes I do. He told me himself…" Brennan cut herself off. She had wanted to keep the fact that she had spoken with Booth the previous night to herself. She made a pact with herself that this time things between her and Booth would remain between her and Booth. She owed that to him – they owed that to each other.

"So, you talked to the big dog last night, huh? How'd that go?"

"It was fine and I'd rather not gossip about it." She turned to face her computer screen hoping that would end the conversation.

"Gossip? Sweetie it's me, don't you trust me? We talk about everything…"

"Not about this." She turned and looked at her friend and noticed how concerned her kind brown eyes were, "Angela things with Booth and I are…they aren't what they use to be and…I-I…I just can't talk about it and it has nothing to do with you or the level of trust I have with you it's about me and about him and I hope you understand that."

Angela nodded, "I actually do understand. Not that I don't want to know every single detail of how things play out between you, every angry word and shared smile but I get that you need to keep it to yourself – for now…Just know that I'm here, if you need to talk or share or speculate on how spectacular he must look nude now." She grinned, "Really, Bren…I get it."

"Thanks, Ange."

Angela's eyes had glazed over slightly, "How amazing do you think he looks under that new suit?"

"Seriously Angela! I mean it…" She grinned, leave it to her free-spirited, kindred spirit to ask the one question Brennan had stayed up for hours the night before pondering and hating herself every minute that she did.

"Ok, I'll go and think about it…maybe sketch about it…lunch later?"

"Sorry, I made plans with Sarah to go over some case notes at lunch. How about dinner?"

"It's a deal. Come over to our place, we're having Sweets and Samantha over, too."

"Great, I love being the 3rd wheel."

"In this case you would be the 5th wheel, but you could ask…"

"Good-bye Angela, some of us have work to do."

Angela giggled all the way out of Brennan's office over to Hodgins work area. The way Brennan was keeping her thoughts on Booth to herself was very sweet and very un- Brennan-like. And Angela loved it.

"What are you all smiles about? Not that I'm complaining." Hodgins asked when he saw Angela practically skipping toward him.

"Brennan doesn't want to talk about Booth."

"Why does that make you happy? I thought you lived for salacious details about other people's lives?"

"No, I live for art and you… and sex…and sex with you." She leaned over and kissed him on the nose, "Brennan staying quiet makes me happy because it means she's already has made her mind up, she knows what she wants and she doesn't need my advice."

"I thought you liked giving her advice?"

"Normally I do but this, this she had to figure out on her own. And I'm proud of her."

"But you just said she didn't want to talk about it – how do you know what she figured out?"

"Because I just do, ok?"

Hodgins laughed and shook his head, "Give me 150 years and I will never fully understand the way your mind works and I am more than ok with that."


	5. Chapter 5

"You've gone a million miles  
How far'd you get  
To that place where you can't remember  
And you can't forget."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Secret Garden_

Brennan had asked Sarah to meet her at the lab for lunch so they could go over the notes on the last case they had finished. Normally, they met at Sarah's office in the Hoover building but Brennan wasn't in the mood to see how things had changed over there in the past few days. She didn't want to see Booth in his wide, conservative ties or where his new office was – she wasn't ready for that.

Knowing that he was within whistling range was good enough for her for now.

After they had finished their salads, one major bonus of her partnership with Sarah was that they were both vegetarians so there were never any arguments about where or what to eat, Brennan asked, "How long had you known that Booth was coming back?"

Sarah took a long sip of her iced tea before answering, she knew that this question would be coming and she also knew that no matter how she answered it she would feel like she had betrayed her partner, a woman she now considered a friend, "I found out that he was back about 3 minutes before you did…"

"But?" Brennan knew that she was holding back.

Sarah sighed, "But…there were rumblings of him being offered the position before Thanksgiving but no one knew if he had actually been offered the job or if he would actually take it so I didn't say anything to you about it because it was more of a rumor than anything…When someone leaves town the way he did, most people don't ever come back."

"I accept your reasons for not telling me about it…but you should know that Booth isn't most people."

"It's only been a day and a half but I've already figured that out. Do you know that he tried to turn down the office Cullen gave him? He said it was too big and I think the word he used was impersonal."

Brennan smiled, "What did Cullen say?"

"He told him to get his candy-ass in there and make it personal. That he was a Deputy Director now and he better start acting the part."

"Good for Cullen. Booth deserves a big office – he's earned it. Trust me, he's earned it."

"I've never asked before because it seemed irrelevant but now that he's back …never mind, it's none of my business."

"No, ask. We're partners and you should feel comfortable at least asking the tough questions. Although, I may not be able to answer it a way that will please you."

"Ok, what was it between you? I know why he left, I know that he lost someone he loved but I also have heard stories, legends more than anything of the way you two were, the dynamic duo. Two people with so much chemistry and heat between them that they were in constant danger of exploding, the best team the bureau ever had. How did you not know he was coming back?"

Brennan pushed her empty take-out container away from her and leaned back in her chair The dynamic duo, she thought to herself, how did she begin to explain her and Booth to Sarah when she wasn't even sure how they began in the first place. "Booth and I…well, I knew about the job, he told me around Christmas that it had been offered to him but at that time he wasn't sure if he was going to take it…."

Brennan wiped her lips with a napkin and continued, "He and I were…we were unique – as partners. He learned from me that science was important to getting the answers he needed and I learned from him that not every problem could be solved here in the lab…from there we became friends – it took a lot for us to become close, I didn't trust him and he didn't like me but over time we…" Brennan stopped herself, she was trying to open a door to the past that she had hidden the key for a very long time ago. "Booth is a good man, one of the best you'll ever find and he'll be an excellent boss."

Sarah smiled, just when she thought she was going to get an insight into this woman she was shut down. She assumed the reason wasn't a lack of trust between her and Brennan but a lot of pain between Brennan and Booth. "He seems like an ok guy, so far at least. He wants to meet with us today or tomorrow to discuss protocol – he told me that whichever day Bones seemed to be the least busy would be best. I guess he's still concerned about your workload which is nice."

Brennan shook her head, "No, he's not concerned with my workload. He's concerned with interrupting me – he has always assumed that interrupting me made me cranky."

"It does, doesn't it?"

She sighed, "Yes, but doesn't it make everyone cranky?"

"Bones, you're not everyone. Now are you?" Booth asked as he ascended the stairs to the lounge area.

"Booth, I though you wanted to meet today or tomorrow?" Brennan asked a little miffed that she didn't know he was coming but also a little excited that he had.

"Director Booth? Did you need me?" Sarah asked in her most earnest voice while Brennan snorted at the sound of someone calling him 'Director Booth'.

"First of all McCready, I told you yesterday to call me Booth – just Booth. And no, I don't need anything although there are a stack of leave requests that Cullen gave me and told me that they were my problem now – we can talk about that later." He looped his fingers in his belt and looked around the Jeffersonian and then at Brennan, " I just wanted to swing by and see if this place still worked the same way."

Brennan stood and leaned over the railing, "Of course it does. You once told me that this was my house and I run a very organized household."

"How could I have doubted that?" He took a spot near the railing next to her, "God, I use to hate this place – so shiny and hard."

"And what about now?" She looked over at him, trying to figure out what was going on in his mind.

At this point, the former partners had completely forgotten that Sarah was sitting there and she watched them in silence.

Booth cocked his head to look at her, "Oh, it's still too shiny and all the surfaces are far too hard but I don't hate it. It has its place…in my….it has its place in my world."

"Good to know you don't hate my favorite place…Did you really not need anything? Because I have calls to make but if you need me I can…"

"I really did just come by to check things out. Go make your calls. I'll see you tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm having dinner with all of you at the Montenegro-Hodgins estate."

"Since when?"

"Since Finny invited me last night, why?"

"Angela just invited me and didn't tell me you were coming."

"Sorry, Bones. I don't have to go if…"

"No, no it's great…just like everything these days it's-

"Surprising" They said in unison.


	6. Chapter 6

"In the summer all the lights would shine there'd

be music playin' people laughin' all the time  
Me and my sister we'd hide out in the tall corn fields  
Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill"

_- Bruce Springsteen, __Mansion on the Hill_

"I'm telling you Angela it was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. It was like I wasn't even there even though they both looked at me and talked to me." Sarah was laying on the couch in Hodgins' living room sharing with Angela the incident that had taken place in the lounge at lunchtime.

"Yeah, Bren and Booth are weird, always have been. Even in the beginning – they have their own way of communicating. Sometimes its silent and other times what we, you know the rest of the people within ear shot, think we hear is not what they are actually saying."

"He looked so serious when he got to the top of the stairs like…like I was wasting my time or the government's time…And now he knows about all the time I requested off for the summer and…"

"Give me a break if you only knew all the ways that Booth use to waste time back when…Don't worry about him, Booth's a cool guy or at least he use to be…I'm sure he'll understand that you want to take vacation time – which you earned by the way – to go see your fiancé on the road."

"I just hate that his first full day on the job and he's already been alerted to my plans to ditch my job."

"Not ditching. You're taking a vacation – it's a good thing. Booth will understand and if he doesn't then, oh well."

"Oh well says the woman who lives in this mansion with a –a, what is Hodgins? millionaire or billionaire?"

"I don't know exactly all I know is that money is never an object – ever."

"Nice." Sarah sat up and grinned, "Sometimes I think I want G to make it as a musician but then I think I'd miss the starving artist part of our lives."

"I grew up with money but was unhappy, I lived penniless as an artist and was happy but now I'm happy and there's the security of the money but I'd take Hodgins in a gutter over any other way of life in a second."

"Honestly?"

"Absolutely, when you know what you want and need and then you find them in the same person – that's perfection."

"I'm perfection?" Hodgins asked as he darted into the room.

"What we have is perfection, Hodgie."

"Right, well the rest of the guest have arrived."

"All of them?"

"Sam and Sweets, who else are we expecting?"

"Brennan and Booth."

"Man, I was really looking forward to a meal without people jumping up and down every 15 minutes."

'I invited Brennan before I knew that Sam invited Booth – sorry."

"Fine, I'll tell Roscoe that there are two more for dinner but I'm not going to stop eating because they have an argument, got it? I will eat my dinner in my home on my time, got it?" He stormed off.

"See what I mean, perfection." Angela turned and looked at Sarah with a grin.


	7. Chapter 7

"We were both hitchhikers but you had your ear tuned to the roar  
of some metal-tempered engine on an alien, distant shore  
So you, left to find a better reason than the one we were living for"

- Bruce Springsteen, _For You_

Booth sat in the driveway of Hodgins' place trying to find the courage to go in or to leave. He felt like he'd been having to make too many decision lately - before he just acted on how he felt or what he knew was right but now, now everything was so backwards he couldn't think straight.

He finally decided to leave, he needed to take a drive and clear his head. He shifted into reverse but when he looked in the rearview he saw Brennan getting out of her car and he couldn't leave – she had blocked him in and there was no way he was going to ask her to move her car so he could flee.

"Were you going to leave?" She asked as she met him at his car.

"Uh…no, well…" He stammered, he didn't want to lie but he didn't want to tell the truth either – that was new for him as well. Before he always knew what to say. Brennan had obviously just come from the lab – her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and she hadn't even taken the time to remove her lab coat which was odd because he couldn't think of a time that she had ever left the building with it on. And he couldn't think of a time when he thought the blue jacket was so fetching.

"It's ok if you were, I actually considered calling in sick and then I realized that you can't really call in sick to a dinner so…" She stood there staring at him, the sun had almost set and it was bringing out twinges of red in his hair that she hadn't noticed before, that was one of the things that drew her to him – there was always something new, Booth was never boring at least when they were in the same city and speaking.

"So…should we go in?"

"After you." Brennan followed Booth into Hodgins' place.

"Sweetie! I mean Sweeties! Glad you finally made it – did you come together?" Angela asked hopefully.

"No, just got here at the same time." Booth looked around the house, 6 years ago he thought this place was a waste of space and now even with Angela's touches it was still too big.

"Booth, they just started in the dining room if you want to go in…Bren can I talk to you for a minute?"

Brennan shrugged her shoulders at Booth and followed Angela into the living room. "What Angela?"

"I promised Hodgins that you and Booth would behave tonight."

"Behave? Are we children? Baboons?"

"Of course not, I just meant that there would be no repeats of Thanksgiving, no running away from the table, no bickering while the rest of us sit and try to pretend we're not listening when we really are…you know."

"Fine, we'll be good. Or at least I will be – I can't vouch for Booth."

Angela draped her arm across her friend's shoulder and led her toward the dining room, "Yeah Bren, Booth's generally not the problem in these situations."

"Me?"

"Yes, you." Angela whispered as they took their seats at the table.

"Fine, I'm the problem. Fine."

"You're the problem?" Booth asked

"You think so too?" She asked defensively.

"I was asking not confirming, relax Bones."

Not wanting to poke the bear that had settled at the end of the table near Brennan and Angela, Finn turned to Sarah, "Have you heard from GG? How's the band? Have you guys set a date for the wedding?"

"Who's GiGi? You're marrying a chick?" Booth was confused but intrigued.

"My fiancé, is a man, we refer to him as GG for guitar guy. Because when I met him I didn't know his name for a few months and since he-"

"Played the guitar you nicknamed him GG – guitar guy. Got it. Who does he play with?"

"Uh, right now he's out on the road with The Arcade Fire but he's hoping to get his own thing off the ground eventually."

Booth was slightly awestruck, "I love them – they're doing early Springsteen almost better than Springsteen did it...That's insanely cool, McCready."

"That's why I requested so much time this summer – I want to try and hit as many festivals as possible."

"Totally understandable." Booth grinned at his new favorite employee.

Sweets cleared his throat, "Uh, Booth two things…One. I am incredibly impressed you know The Arcade Fire's music, that's a little hip for you."

"And what's the second Sweetness?" Booth growled.

"How did you figure out the GG thing so quickly? And don't give me the, that's what the special stands for in Special Agent line that you have given me one too many times."

"You know, I've gotten that line too." Brennan interjected.

"Temperance, we've all been given that line from him. It's Seeley's way of trying to avert our attention from the fact that he pays attention to everything and doesn't forget anything – right Triple S?"

"Finn, stop calling me that." He pointed and sneered at her.

"Answer Lance's question and I might stop calling you that."

"When I was in college…some of the girls in my dorm called me BG, apparently that's something that girls or I mean women do. They think they're speaking in code but they aren't."


	8. Chapter 8

"I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it's really hard to hold your breath.  
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress  
Well, my feet they finally took root in the earth but I got me a nice little place in the stars  
And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Growin' Up_

Only Brennan took the bait, "What did the B stand for?"

"Wow, are we finally going to know what Booth's nickname was?" Angela was excited beyond words, she had been waiting for this for years.

"I thought your nickname was Cap?" Sarah asked.

Booth covered his eyes with his hand, "The guys at the bureau call me Cap."

"Dude, Cap as in Captain America?" Hodgins snorted.

"Ah, yeah, only the greatest superhero ever, at least in the Marvel Universe."

Sweets shook his head, "No, over Cap you've got Spiderman, the Hulk and maybe even Iron Man – that's a guy who has overcome a lot."

"I have never had less respect for you than I do right now, Sweets! Steve Rogers had the soul of a poet and the body and mind of a killing machine. The man, may he rest in peace, had phenomenal endurance. That's why I was given the nickname. The others don't even come close! What has Tony Stark overcome? A drinking problem? Poor little billionaire has a drinking problem – I don't care! Captain America is where it is at. And everyone here knows it."

Brennan leaned over toward Finn and asked, "Who's Steve Rogers?"

All 3 men at the table yelled "Captain America!"

"Sorry, then who's Tony Stark?"

Again, all 3 men yelled, "Iron Man!"

Brennan still looked confused so Finn took the reigns of the conversation, "Ok Temp, for men of a certain age, their ages." She pointed at the 3 men in question, "These fictional characters represent…You know what? I can't even shrink my way out of this one. It's their way of not growing up – comic books are the male version of Snow White or Cinderella."

"I get that but why are they so…so passionate about it?"

"Bren, didn't you ever have a favorite anything growing up? Something that you would have defended vehemently?" Angela asked.

Booth snapped his fingers, "Smurfette. Bones you would never let someone talk smack about Smurfette. Would you?"

"Talk smack?"

He leaned across the table, "You know say something bad about her, right?"

She leaned toward him and softly said, "When I was younger yes, but now I know that she was just a stupid, shallow Smurf who only had her looks."

Booth smiled and nodded, "You are right about that."

"Oh wow, guys. I mean it's like 6 years too late but wow." Sweets stood up and started to pace around the dining room. "It's so….I mean it's like crystal…"

Finn hit Booth on the arm, "What did you do to him? Why is he spazzing?"

"Me? He's a natural spaz, doesn't need my help. I told you that before you married him. _And_ he's picking Iron Man over Captain America – Finn you've made some poor life choices, I'm sorry for you. "

"Hey, at least Iron Man is still alive and I'm not a natural spaz – I tend to spaz when things are withheld from me for many years by two people I believe to be friends, no closer than friends, family I see the two of you as family. I opened up to you about Voltron and you couldn't share a Smurf story with me?"

"It is more than a story for Bones."

"Right, it is a private, humiliating teen-age experience that Booth is the only living person to know about."

"Is that what that Brainy Smurf in your kitchen is about?" Angela asked.

Brennan shrugged and let a smile escape out of half of her mouth, something not unnoticed by Booth.

"You still have that?"

"Yes, but I also still have my retainer from when I was 11 so…"

"Ha! You never had braces or a retainer. Don't lie to me Bones, you can't." He tapped his temple "Steel trap, very little gets out."

"I never told you that."

"Yes, yes you did, remember we were on the plane coming back from California and I mentioned hating the dentist because of how much time I spent getting my braces tightened and you said that you always had perfectly straight teeth and I remember that specifically because later, after you had fallen asleep – with your mouth open - I made a mental note that your teeth weren't all that straight."

Finn rested her forehead on her palm, "So many issues…"

Sweets sat back down at the table, "Told you so."

"We don't have issues." Booth said sternly and softly.

"The simple fact that you say you have no issues is indicative that you do." Sweets leaned back in his seat, certain that he had laid down his last statement with unquestionable authority.


	9. Chapter 9

"You shot through my anger and rage  
To show me my prison was just an open cage  
There were no keys no guards  
Just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Living Proof_

After finishing dinner, Booth feigned exhaustion and said his good-byes. When he made it out to his car he saw once again that Brennan had him blocked in. He had two choices, he could go back in and ask her to move it or wait for her to come out on her own. He decided it might be fun to hang out and see how long it took her to escape Angela's clutches.

Less than 5 minutes later, Brennan emerged from the house feeling relieved. She saw Booth leaning up against the muscle car that seemed even better built with him near it and smiled, "I thought you were exhausted and had to get home to let your dog out?"

"Both of those things are true but…" He turned and pointed to her car, "You've got me pinned in an I was just kind of waiting to see…"

"Were you waiting to see how long I stayed after you?"

"Not really, it was more that I didn't want to go back in there and deal with Finn and Sweets. They just push too hard sometimes, you know?

"I don't think you're avoiding Samantha or Sweets. You have a very strong bond with Sweets and, more than that, I see that you respect Samantha and her opinion and that is what is bothering you." Brennan leaned up against the car, shoulder to shoulder with Booth, "You hate that you feel like you're on display."

He nodded, "I do. I just want people to stop looking at me. I use to be invisible. I could slip in and out of places unnoticed, unscarred."

"No you couldn't…You have always stood apart from the rest. And, I have to ask if you are so adamant about blending in and not being noticed, why are you so fixated on your physical appearance and why are you driving a car that can be heard and seen for miles?"

He looked over at her and was suddenly struck with the thought that while he wasn't sure that he was ready to stop avoiding his life, he was sure that he was tired of avoiding being honest with her. Months ago, before Christmas, she had told him that no matter what they had always had the truth between them and he had forgotten that until she reminded him. "Bones, I have spent so much time working out because…because what else was I supposed to do with my time? And the car? The car is a symptom of the same problem." His voice cracked with emotions that he was using every bit of strength he had to hold back.

"Booth, I didn't mean to upset you, I'm just trying to figure out…I'm sorry." She looked down at the ground.

"It's ok. I have to accept that you are a naturally curious person and will always ask questions that you feel need to be answered…I've actually kind of missed that."

Brennan squared her shoulders, "Really? I'll have to remember that. Can I sit in your car?" Before he could answer she was yanking the door open and sliding into the driver's seat.

Booth ran his hand through his hair and rounded the car and entered the passenger side, "Just don't touch it too hard, ok?"

"This is a very nice car, Booth. You did a fine job restoring it."

"It? Bones, I would like to introduce you to Mary. She's been my main girl now for a few years."

"You named your car Mary? After the virgin mother?"

No…Well, maybe…Since Gwen has been gone I've been listening to a lot of Springsteen and the name Mary comes up a lot in his music and he was raised Catholic so…"

"Mary is a good name, Booth." Brennan leaned back on the head rest, "Can I take it around the block?"

"Ah, no. Unless you've learned to drive a 5-speed in the past 3 years you can not drive my car." He rolled his head over and grinned at her.

"Will you teach me how?" She turned in her seat to face him, "It's a very valuable skill that I should have."

"I will teach you how to drive this car but not tonight…it's late and dark and honestly I'm not in the mood to fight with you right now."

"I accept that it's too late and dark but why would we fight?"

"Because that's what we do – I don't mind it, really. I just…I haven't been in top form lately. Not a lot of challenging…erm…people in Richmond to keep me sharp. Let me get back into the swing of things and then I'll take you out and teach you how to handle my lady, ok?"

Brennan nodded.

"Good." Booth hopped out of the car and made his way over to Brennan's side and opened the door, "Let's go Bones." He reached out and pulled her out of the car.

"Do you still want to meet with me and Sarah tomorrow morning?"

"I do, I'll call in the morning."

Before walking away she leaned in, "Why did the girls in college call you BG?"

"Not important. G'night Bones."

"Please…Tell me…Booth?"

"Fine, but it stays between us – got it?" He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her a few steps away from him, "My first year of college, I was coming back from a party one night and there were these two girls causing a commotion, hanging out by the storm drain near our building and when I went over to see what the fuss was about I found out there was a family of rabbits, a mother and 3 baby bunnies stuck in the drain…I helped get them unstuck and then took them to my room and kept them until the next morning. Then I took them to the local animal shelter…"

"So, the girls started calling you BG for…?"

He whimpered, "You're gonna make me say it?"

She grinned wickedly, "Of course."

"They called me Bunny Guy, ok?" He muttered under his breath. Before either of them knew it, they were both doubled over in laughter. An event that was witnessed by Sweets as he passed by the window overlooking the drive. At that moment, he felt two things; happiness for his friend who deserved to be laughing and sadness that it had taken so long for it to happen.


	10. Chapter 10

"So you've been broken and you've been hurt  
Show me somebody who ain't  
Yeah, I know I ain't nobody's bargain  
But, hell, a little touchup  
and a little paint..."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Human Touch_

The next afternoon, Brennan was sitting on the front porch of her farmhouse, waiting for the contractor, Pete, and his crew to arrive to give her the final estimate on the restoration. The house was in fine condition for living in as-is but Brennan had decided that if she was going to make the commitment to buy a house, she was going to make it the home she had always wanted. Even if the remodeling was going to cost more than the actual house.

While she waited she thought about the meeting she had with Sarah and Booth earlier that day to discuss protocol. Brennan thought the idea of meeting to discuss something that she and Booth had created and that no one else had been able to improve upon was ridiculous. But she understood that the new position was going to be a challenge for her former partner and she decided that if it would help him feel more secure she would discuss with him whatever he felt was necessary. It ended up being a short meeting, once Booth realized that with the exception of a few new technological advances everything at the Jeffersonian was the way he left it – almost everything. He was starting to see that the most monumental changes had taken place within Brennan and that she wasn't completely ready for him to see how far she had come.

Since the afternoon before Thanksgiving when Booth had shown up at the lab unexpectedly, Brennan had been fighting the urge of getting her hopes up in regard to anything concerning him. It had taken her too long to get use to him being gone to allow herself to become optimistic about the idea of him returning. Even after the moments they shared over Christmas and New Year's, Brennan had remained cautious – a skill she had cultivated early on in her life.

But even Brennan in her most cautious state couldn't help but feel a little happy after the events of the last few days. As she thought about the previous night she realized that while having dinner in the grand dining room of Hodgins' estate she had seen flashes of the man she had missed so much and then later, when they were alone sitting in his car she saw something else entirely.

After talking with him she knew that the version of Booth she had been holding onto so tightly in her mind and in her heart was never coming back. Because she realized that in his absence she had placed him on a pedestal and she had allowed him to become a character of nearly mythic proportions in her memory. Not only was it impossible to have any kind of relationship with an elevated legend, it's not who he really was. It was who she had allowed him to become so she could let him go and heal.

And now he was back and all she could think about was how similar he was to her new house. Both were structurally sound, with character and charm to spare but they both had been left alone for too long, they shared the same need for life to be put back into them and while the house needed new windows to improve the view of the countryside, Booth needed a way to improve the view of his world. Brennan was hopeful that she was smart enough to allow the contractors and workmen to make the right calls for the house and that she was strong enough to help Booth make the right calls for his life.

Looking at her date book she realized that Booth would be 40 years old in just over 2 weeks and she wondered if Pete's crew could have the house celebration-ready by then.


	11. Chapter 11

"When it comes to luck you make your own  
Tonight I got dirt on my hands but I'm building me a new home."  
- Bruce Springsteen, _Lucky Town__  
_

Booth had been dreading turning 40 since he turned 21. There was no logic or reason for this fact it just simply was. In his mind he considered 40 years to be well over half his life and if the grey around his temples and the ache he got in his lower back when it rained were any indication then he was headed for the less fun half of his life. He had hoped that being gone for three previous years, somehow his birthday would go unnoticed this year. But he had found that being gone only made people remember things about him more. So on March 16th – the 40th anniversary of his blessed birth he was headed out to Brennan's new house for a party that he hadn't wanted but knew was he was lucky to be receiving.

He pulled up to the house and let out a loud whistle, the place was twice the size that he had imagined. He started to make a mental list of all of the upkeep the property was going to need and then stopped himself when he realized that she had the means to afford to pay someone else to do the hard work for her. But somehow he suspected that she would try and do the bulk of it herself.

It appeared that he was the last to arrive and was greeted on the wrap around porch by Sweets.

"Happy Birthday, man!" When he noticed that Booth still seemed to be taking in his surroundings Sweets asked, "Pretty nice place, huh?"

"Yeah, do you even think she knows what it's going to take to keep a place like this?"

Sweets nodded, "Probably 2 of those fantastic royalty checks she gets every 3 months. Booth, she thought it through. Really."

"If you say so."

"Come on, everyone is back behind the barn, Hodgins is unsuccessfully trying to start a fire with twigs even though we have matches and lighters and those instant logs."

"Bones has a barn? What does she need a barn for?" Booth felt like he had walked into an alternate dimension.

"I think she wants to turn the loft into a writing studio, I don't know."

"That's completely impractical. Do you know how hard it would be to heat in the winter?"

Sweets turned and faced Booth, "Dude, I know that you have been dreading this day and this birthday for a very long time but quit it."

"Quit what?"

"Complaining, whining, pointing out everything you think is wrong. Just because you think it's wrong doesn't mean it is."

Booth smiled, "Finn let you wear the pants out of the house today, didn't she?" As they rounded the barn Booth saw Finn first, "Ha, I knew it!" He smirked at Sweets as he went to hug her, " Nice dress, Finny."

"Thanks for noticing but somehow I'm sure it has nothing to do with me and something derogatory about Lance."

"You know, if I don't make fun of him-"

Sweets cut him off, "No one would and I could live in peace."

"How is that fun for me? If I didn't pick on you'd start to worry that I didn't love you anymore."

"Or maybe, I would know that you were finally acting your age which is, that's right, you are 40!" Sweets thought about starting to taunt Booth more about his age but changed his mind when he figured out that even being 12 years younger than Booth, he was slower and weaker than the agent.

Booth smiled, "I'm gonna let you have that one. Only one because I don't want to embarrass you in front of your wife who is far too smart and beautiful to be married to you. And I know that when she figures that out, you're gonna end up living with me and we'll end up as this sad, weird odd-couple cautionary tale. Ok?" Having said what he needed to, Booth turned to go find Brennan.

Finn looked at her husband, "Has he been drinking?"

"No, I doubt it. He's just really cranky."

"Or really nervous."

"Sam, I love you and I am a lucky man to have you but you have got to stop upstaging my observations…I knew him first!" He called the last part out as he was walking away from her.

Finn sighed, throwing her hands up she yelled back, "I forgot that he's yours. You called him!"

Hodgins looked at Angela and asked, "He 'called' him, what like shotgun?"

Angela groaned and looked at him, "Hodgins, remember a few years ago when you wanted to move to Napa?"

"Yes and you said we couldn't because our lives were here."

"I know but our lives have gotten really weird and Napa's-"

"Looking pretty good from here?"

Angela nodded.

"Ange, we can't leave. _We're_ the normal ones now. I have to stay just to see how this plays out. I mean how crazy do you think it makes Booth that Brennan bought this place? With all the work it needs?"

Sweets came up behind them and laughed, "So crazy…Over the Top, arm-wrestling- Sylvester -Stallone crazy."

"Sweets, you will take any chance to reference that movie won't you?"

"Come on, that's a great movie. He's arm wrestling to get his kid back _and _a new 18-wheeler!"


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm standing in the backyard  
Listening to the party Inside  
Tonight I'm drinkin' in the forgiveness  
This life provides  
The scars we carry remain but the pain slips away it seems  
Oh won't you baby be in my book of dreams?"

-Bruce Springsteen, _Book of Dreams_

An hour later, the sun had started to set and Booth had taken up post at the grill – or grills actually. Brennan had become a strict vegetarian and didn't want her Boca burgers cooked near the dead animal flesh. There was a part of Booth that wanted to tell her to cook her own damn hippy food but the other part of him was simply pleased to have a task to focus on.

The entire Jeffersonian team showed up for the party, along with Rebecca and Parker – a very pleasant surprise for the birthday boy. From his vantage point off the deck Booth could see everyone gathered in the large kitchen that was still under renovation and he had an amazing view of the nearly seven acres that the Brennan estate sat on. He was proud of her regardless of the concerns he had about her living alone in a fairly isolated spot. With a place like this she'd have to leave the lab at a decent hour and stay home on the weekends and Booth felt that he had in some small way, pushed her into wanting a full life.

Sweets stepped out onto the deck and leaned over the railing, looking down at Booth, "You do realize that you're not the only one who can work the grill and tongs, right?"

"That's debatable. I mean did you see Hodgins trying to start that fire? I think it's best that I keep an eye on things."

As he walked down toward Booth, Sweets asked, "Don't you want to go inside? Be with the people who came here to be with you?"

"Are they here for me, or out of misguided sense of duty? I haven't been the greatest friend to anyone lately."

"Yeah, but you use to be. And they all remember that guy and they see him when they look at you."

Booth sighed and shook his head, "I don't. I barely recognize myself some mornings. Even now, there are days when I feel like a zombie or a ghost."

"I know, it took me a long time to feel…for lack of a better word corporeal again. Thank God for Samantha." Sweets said as he looked into the house and saw his wife holding court – sitting on the kitchen island, telling stories.

"Yes, Thank God for your Finn. She's…women like her are rare. And I know I tease you about it but I'm happy that you got your future."

Sweets placed a hand on Booth's shoulder, "Booth, you're going to get yours too. I have faith that it's close."

"I still have my faith, I go to church every Sunday and confession once a month but I wonder."

"About?"

Booth couldn't believe he was going to admit this but there was no one else who would understand, "Gwen didn't believe in God and you don't believe." He pointed toward the house, "I know for a fact that most of them don't believe…so, I wonder if I've been wrong. What if I've run around trying to be good for so long and there was no point to it? I've spent 15 years trying to atone for things that I've done and what if it doesn't matter?"

"It matters, I don't know if there is anything after this life but striving to be good and decent matters to the world. The world is better off with people like you."

"You think? I doubt that often."

"You're having a crisis of faith, now that's not like you. Even through the worst of it – you held onto your beliefs. Why walk away now?" Sweets paused, "Don't answer that…I know, it's a big day. This is the kind of milestone that really makes you think about…about everything, right?"

"Yeah." Booth stared off into the darkening sky and Sweets took it as his cue to call in reinforcements, he wasn't equipped to roust Booth from this funk all-alone.

"Hey, you can commiserate with Sam. She turns 30 this year and you know women…"

Booth looked at him and arched his brow, "Yes, _I _know women. But I am still constantly amazed that you do as well."

Sweets smiled at the insult, he knew that it was a gesture of friendship, of brotherhood from Booth and Sweets appreciated it. Booth was a part of his family now and there were moments, like the one they had just shared, when he felt closer to Booth than he ever had to his own sister. He caught Brennan's eye through the window and gestured for her to come out.

Brennan stepped out onto her deck and marveled at how normal and right it felt to see Booth standing in her yard, cooking her vegetarian hamburgers. She shivered slightly as the temperature had dropped several degrees with the setting sun. Sweets met her on the stairs, he was headed into the house with plates full of hotdogs and hamburgers, "Talk to him. Remind him that he's not old and that…I don't know just do whatever it is that you do."

Brennan smiled, "What does that mean?"

"He's happier around you and he's feeling a little down – turning 40 is not sitting well with our tough guy."

She nodded, "Ok." She made her way over to Booth and looked at him, as far she was concerned, 40 was sitting very well with him, "Hey, do you want to go see my barn?"

Seeing her approach stirred something in Booth. He smiled, "I really do."


	13. Chapter 13

"Well for a while I've been watching you steady  
Ain't gonna move 'til you're good and ready  
You show up and then you shy away  
But I know pretty soon you'll be walkin' this way  
Sad eyes never lie"

- Bruce Springsteen, _Sad Eyes_

They made their way down the slope of the back lawn, past the fire pit to the barn.

"Bones, this is-"

"Mine, it's all mine." She said cutting him off, "Not to boast or anything but it's completely paid for – no one can take it from me."

"So, it's safe?" He asked.

Brennan thought it over for a moment, "It's secure. It gives me security but it doesn't have anything to do with my safety. If anything its more dangerous here than at my apartment."

"I had the same thought when I pulled up this afternoon – where's your closest neighbor?"

"Uh, less than a mile. That's not too bad."

"Your old neighbor was 11 steps from your front door."

She flipped on the main switch and the barn was illuminated, "11 steps? You counted?"

Choosing to ignore her question, Booth started looking through the stalls, "Gonna get some livestock, Bones?"

"I actually thought about getting a horse once I get settled. I rode in college and loved it…Follow me, this is the best part of the entire house – the reason I bought it."

Booth followed her to the loft area.

It was a tight fit up the narrow staircase and Booth found himself drunk on the fumes from her lemon-scented shampoo and the fire burning outside. The two smells combined created a wave of nostalgia that washed over Booth. He was instantly transported to a perfect night, 25 years in the past. The night of his freshmen high school homecoming pep rally.

The night before the big football game, it was tradition for everyone to gather on the practice field and build a huge bonfire – burning the other school's mascot in effigy. He remembered standing on the field next to Meghann Desperito. Booth may have only been 15 at the time but he knew then that Meghann was exactly the kind of girl guys spent their entire lives looking for. She was smart, funny and beautiful – she had auburn hair, light blue eyes and coltish legs that Booth had been obsessed with. Yes, Meghann had been perfect.

But why was he thinking of her now? Booth started to survey his environment, the fire was a definite trigger and Meghann had been drinking lemonade that night so the scent of Brennan's shampoo was also an obvious trigger. But there was something else and as he watched Brennan open the loft doors that looked down on her little piece of the world, it clicked in Booth's mind. Brennan was exactly what he thought Meghann would have been like as a grown woman – she had moved away the summer before their sophomore year so he never had the chance to see her mature.

Brennan could feel Booth mulling over her movements, "What's wrong, Booth?"

"Not a thing." He smiled and continued to watch her.

"You think this is ridiculous, don't you?"

"That depends, does it make you happy?" He asked.

She turned and looked at him, her eyes sparkling, "It does, I never thought I'd own a home and I love this view...I'm going to have this loft converted into a writing studio."

"Honestly? At first I thought it was ridiculous but not anymore. Anything that makes you this happy has to be the complete opposite of ridiculous."

"Thanks." She felt an odd pull toward him and he seemed to be slowly closing the gap between them.

"You're welcome....Thanks for throwing me a party – I appreciate it." He took one more step forward, now they were toe to toe.

"You're welcome. We've missed you and we are more than happy to celebrate your birth." Completely lost in a moment of sheer joy, Brennan leaned forward and placed her hands on his hips.

He bit his lip at her forward gesture and then asked, "Is everyone's level of missing me the same or…"

She brought her lips to his ear, just as she had on New Year's, and said, "There is no one who has missed you more than me, Booth."

She pulled back to face him and before she even had the chance to focus her eyes, her lips were being consumed by his. Booth didn't thought about what he was doing, he just acted and it felt incredible. He slowly walked her backwards, never separating his lips from hers and when her back hit the wood wall she let out a gentle moan. Their hands were gripping and grasping at anything and everything – desperate for something to hold onto. Booth quickly stepped back and hitched her up so her legs were wrapped around his waist. He pushed her back against the wall and looked at her in the soft light of the barn. He saw something in her eyes he had never seen anywhere before and it caught him off guard. No other woman had ever looked at him in that way and suddenly he felt helpless and hazardous all at once.

She reached out and cupped his cheek with her hand, lightly kissing him on the lips. He gently growled in her ear, "I had forgotten how good a woman tasted." They were completely wrapped up in each other, breathless but afraid to part. Just then, someone turned the outdoor lights on, flooding the back lawn with light. The evening dew twinkled on the perfectly manicured jade, green grass. Seeing this, Booth was reminded of one thing and one thing only - Gwen's eyes.

They pulled apart immediately. Brennan was worried that someone had seen them and Booth allowed her to think that was his excuse as well for almost leaping away from her.


	14. Chapter 14

"When the lights go out and it's just the three of us  
You me and all that stuff we're so scared of."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Tunnel of Love_

When Sweets brought the food in from outside, everyone started to fill their plates. After a few minutes, Angela looked around and asked, "Where are Booth and Brennan?"

Sweets smiled, "Oh, he's feeling pretty down about turning 40 so I sent her out to talk to him. You know, try and cheer him up."

Everyone in the room, with the exception of Parker, looked up at him and asked in unison, "What?"

Sweets looked at the group confused, "This is their thing. One of them gets upset the other steps in, what's wrong?"

Angela designated herself as the delegate for the rest of the room, "Sweets, you do not send Brennan to cheer up a man who is concerned that he's getting old. You send me, or your wife, or in this case Rebecca but never Brennan."

"Why?"

Hodgins raised his hand, "Can I answer this one?" He looked around to see that the floor had been given to him, "Because dear Lance, she's probably out there right now explaining to him the anthropological significance of growing old in some extinct tribe from a country that no one has ever heard of. That is not what you want when you think you're getting old. But you wouldn't understand that because well, you're…you."

"Just because I'm younger than everyone here, except for Parker, doesn't mean I don't understand the significance of aging in our culture."

Hodgins shook his head, "If that were true then you would understand that my hot wife _or_ your hot wife flirting with him a little would make him feel a lot younger than whatever cultural lesson he's getting from Brennan…Man, he probably feels older now than he did before…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Leaning on opposite walls of the loft, Brennan and Booth stood wide-eyed, both trying to catch their breath, both unsure of what to say.

Finally Booth looked up at her, "Where'd those lights come from?" He asked hoarsely.

Brennan was finding it difficult to think, "Uh, those are the…the security lights for the driveway…I know Sarah was going to be late so that's probably her." Brennan smoothed her hair down and straightened her shirt, "I'm going to go down and meet her, ok?"

Booth nodded and watched her walk toward the steps, he reached out and grabbed her hand, "I-I'm sorry about that. I just …I'm sorry."

She turned with a smile, "I'm not." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and let go, "Happy Birthday Booth."

Booth thought to ask her to not mention the incident to anyone but even more than believing it was in bad taste, he knew just by the infliction in her voice that what had transpired between them would not be leaving the rustic barn walls that it had taken place up against.

Brennan was thankful that he didn't immediately follow her down the stairs. If he had, he would have witnessed her knees give out – twice between the barn and the house.

Booth hung back for a few minutes, trying to regain his composure. He didn't want to show up directly behind Brennan appearing to be hot and bothered. And he knew without even looking in a mirror that there was no way he looked anything other than hot and bothered. He watched her cross the yard and walk up the steps to the deck, stumbling twice. Even in the face of the awkward moment and the embarrassment he was sure would be to follow, Booth marveled at the fact that less than 30 minutes prior he had been pitying himself for being old and how now he couldn't believe how young he felt.


	15. Chapter 15

"Everybody needs a place to rest  
Everybody wants to have a home  
Don't make no difference what nobody says  
Ain't nobody like to be alone."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Hungry Heart_

When Brennan finally made it back to the house, she greeted Sarah and then she busied herself by chatting with Rebecca and Finn, hoping against hope that the secret satisfaction that was welling up inside of her wasn't visible on the outside.

"I don't get Seeley. Why does he care that he's 40?" Rebecca asked.

"Seeley is…he's at a cross road in his life. He's trying to figure out what everything means." Finn offered as an explanation.

Brennan shrugged, "Maybe but I think that…that there's so many things Booth thought…I think he thought his life was going to be different."

The other two women looked at her and nodded. Finn and Rebecca shared a look, Brennan was right and maybe Sweets had done the right thing by sending her to talk to him after all. Angela joined the women's circle.

"Bren, if Jack and I decide to move to Napa, will you visit?" She asked loud enough for Hodgins to hear from where he was seated talking to Sweets, she winked at her husband.

"What? Why?" Brennan couldn't stand the idea of something else changing in her world.

"Nothing, just a private joke between he and I. The weirder things get the more we think about moving away."

"Angela, the weirder things get the more you should want to stay." Finn said with a smile. "Come on! Think about it, Temperance bought a 110-year-old farmhouse on 7 acres that is definitely going to turn into a money pit. I mean can't you just see a tub falling through the ceiling?" Finn paused to giggle at her own joke and then continued, "Seeley's back after being gone for 3 years – which incidentally makes my husband insanely happy. He told me last night that it's like Frank Black going back to the Pixies. Yes, I know my husband needs help." She looked over at Brennan and noticed that she was staring into the kitchen but Finn couldn't tell at what, "_Plus,_ Sarah's GG is out on tour which means we may get to meet some rock stars, Temperance's movie starts soon and Lance and I may have some news, as well. All of these things are worth staying for. Aren't they?"

Angela shook her head, grinning at Finn and she loved Sweets at that moment for bringing this woman into their lives, "Yes, you're right. All of those things are very staying worthy."

"Temperance, this place is amazing." Rebecca looked around the living room, "Are you sure that you want to be alone in this much space?"

"Honestly? I didn't think about all the extra space when I bought it. I saw it and just had a gut reaction to it. I'm sure eventually I figure out what to do with the space."

"You had a gut reaction?" Angela mused, "Will wonders never cease?"

Brennan looked at her friend defensively, "Yes, I had a physical reaction. I just knew I was home."

"I thought the Jeffersonian was home?" Angela asked.

Brennan cleared her throat, "Booth told me once that it was my house and at that time he was right but…things change…"

Booth finally made his way back into the house. He looked around and saw Brennan talking in the living room and no one seemed to be overly concerned with his absence – for this he was thankful. He sought out the one person he knew wouldn't notice that there was something amiss with him.

"Hey Park, do you still want to go to the game tomorrow night?" He asked sitting down at the table next to his son.

"If you do. It's your birthday, Dad."

Booth sighed, "I liked it better when you called me Daddy."

"I'm too old for that now."

Booth smiled at his son, "I guess you are, Bub."

Booth started to relax as he ate his dinner and listened to Parker ramble on about school. As the FBI's newest Deputy Director looked around the house, for the first time since he made the decision, he was happy he had Come Home.

Sweets was watching everyone as a therapist this evening, he tried not to but he couldn't help himself – he was interested in how this group would react to being brought back together with a mixture of new and old. As he looked over at Booth, he noticed that there was something on his mind. The young doctor's eyes darted over to Brennan and she too appeared to be focused on her dining companions but she wasn't really, whatever was occupying Booth's thoughts, it was weighing heavily on hers as well. All those years of partner's therapy had given him a fairly decent understanding of the Booth/Brennan silent language. Something happened while they had been outside alone and Sweets hoped that it was a good something – the right something.


	16. Chapter 16

"So when you look at me  
you better look hard and look twice  
Is that me baby  
or just a brilliant disguise"

- Bruce Springsteen, _Brilliant Disguise_

After having cake and toasting Booth's birthday, the party started to wind down. Rebecca was the first to leave – it was past Parker's bedtime. Booth walked them out to the car. After getting a sleepy Parker settled in the car, Booth and Rebecca said their good-byes.

"Thanks for coming Becca and bringing Parker. It means a lot to me."

She smiled, "It means a lot to me that we were able to celebrate your birthday with you. It means even more to Parker. He is so thrilled that you're home. He talks about you constantly."

Booth looked in the backseat, "Yeah, I should have never left him."

"Seeley, you did not leave him. He never once felt that way or said anything about it. He's a lot like you in that way."

"What way?"

"For all of your faults, and there are many, you have always understood what someone else was thinking or feeling more than they did. Parker is a very intuitive kid and Lord knows he does not get that from me."

"Thank you. I'll be by tomorrow around 2 to get him if that's ok?"

"Of course. Happy Birthday Seeley." She hugged him and she noticed that he squeezed her just a little tighter than normal, "Are you ok?"

He stepped back and smiled, "I am. I am ok. It's been an interesting day. Don't turn 40, Becca. It's very confusing."

"Something tells me that being one year older isn't what's confusing you but that is a discussion for another day. Have a good night."

Booth watched them pull out of the drive and then walked back into the house. He noticed immediately that it was empty except for Brennan.

"There you are, I wanted to give you your present before I forgot." Brennan handed him a small box.

"Bones, you didn't have to get me anything – the party was enough."

"Oh, stop. Just open it. Everyone else has migrated to the fire pit and I want to get out there before Hodgins starts seeing how long it takes random things to burn."

Booth laughed, he had missed his squints. He opened the box, "A Captain America belt buckle, thanks Bones."

"Well, I know you stopped wearing the flashy belt buckles but I saw this one and couldn't _not_ get it for you, Cap." She said with a grin.

"Yeah, that's my FBI nickname, not my Jeffersonian nickname. So, you can't use it."

She grinned, "Ok, BG. I'm gonna head outside, coming?"

"Don't call me BG, either. I'm Booth – just Booth." He gently tapped his finger on the counter to make the point.

"You are more than _just _Booth but it's your birthday so I give, come on _Booth_."

They stood motionless for a minute, both knowing that there were a million things that could be said but not a single one that should be said. Brennan noticed that there was hesitation in his eyes, the same kind he had before he interrogated someone without knowing how it was going to end up. He was hesitating out of uncertainty, like he was afraid that one false move or one word said wrong was going to cause him to burst into flames. She didn't want him to feel nervous or anxious - not tonight.

"Whatever you're thinking about – stop." She said with her hands on her hips.

Booth had forgotten that this was _new_ Brennan, the one who seemed to see through him, into his mind. He feigned a smile, "What? I'm not thinking about anything… I mean I am thinking, it's not like I don't, I just…." He stammered on until Brennan cut him off.

"Whatever you're thinking about is causing you to squint your eyes, and squinting without a doctorate causes wrinkles and you are a very old man. You don't need to aid Mother Nature." She grinned wickedly and grabbed him by the hand. She pulled him outside, close to the fire.


	17. Chapter 17

"Now the hardness of this world slowly grinds your dreams away  
Makin' a fool's joke out of the promises we make  
And what once seemed black and white turns to so many shades of gray."  
- Bruce Springsteen, _Blood Brothers_

The following weekend Brennan was spending some quality time with her father as he helped her install a mosaic countertop on her kitchen island. It wasn't something that she really needed his help with but she enjoyed the company and seeing him when she could.

"So, how are things now that Booth's back?" Max asked looking up from his work area.

"Fine, I guess. He's busy getting acquainted with all of his agents and liaisons. He has close to 60 employees now."

"I meant, how are things between the two of you?"

"We're good. We had a birthday party here for him last week but I haven't seen him much this week. Like I said, he's busy." Brennan was trying to convince both her father and herself that his workload was what was keeping him away, even though she was pretty certain that it had a lot more to do with the kiss in her barn than anything.

"Baby, are things still tense?" He asked as he came around the counter and took a seat next to her at the table.

"Not tense, strained. We're different people now. It's going to take time if things are ever going to get back to normal – that's if."

"Do you want them to get back to normal?"

"Normal? I'd like us to be…I don't know what I want but I like that he's back."

"Have you discussed with Booth your feelings about him leaving?"

"For the most part. We had words around Christmas but I think that's all cleared up. I know that no one believes me but I really do understand why he left."

Max sighed, "Take it from a man who had let one too many good things go – don't let him become one of the good things you let go…Outside of what you understand what does everyone else think?"

"They don't say much to me. Everyone just seems happy that he's back and doing well. Booth didn't leave to hurt anyone, in his own misguided way he thought he was helping."

"Who? Who was he helping?"

"Dad, I think he thought he was helping me. The FBI gave me a lot of lenience when I was partnered with him – they let me get involved with things the other liaisons weren't allowed to. They did that because he promised to keep me safe and he did."

"Wait, he promised your safety, to who?"

"Anyone who would listen. He takes a lot of pride in protecting the people in his life."

"I thank God for that everyday but weren't you vulnerable with him gone?"

Brennan shook her head, "When he left, he felt like he was in no position to take care of himself, let alone me. And he told me that he thought when he left I'd go back to traveling and wouldn't remain as committed to our little project."

"Man, was he wrong."

"I know and now he knows as well." She looked at her father's unbelieving eyes and continued, "Ok, maybe I wasn't as understanding about things while he was gone as tried to make it seem but since we've talked – I get it. Truly."

"What are your plans for the next week or so?"

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

"I just thought that since you're moving in full time this weekend you might like some company while you get use to the things that go bump in the night around here – before you give me your independent woman speech, remember you've never lived alone this isolated before. I do not doubt that you can take care of yourself but this place is huge and until you get a security system in place and a feel for things, I'd like it if you let me stay with you."

"I'm not isolated."

"How close is you're nearest neighbor, over a mile?"

Brennan moaned at being asked the same question in less than a week.

"What's with the moaning?

"You are the second person to ask me that in the span of 6 days…"

Max grinned, "The other one was Booth wasn't it?"

"How…What does that matter?"

"Ah, you know great minds and all that. Booth is a good guy and as you just said, he has your best interests at heart."

"I know that you and Booth have formed this mutual admiration society with each other but stop. Things with he and I are complicated. We are officially in a grey area – we're not partners anymore and we haven't been close for years so…"

He leaned forward, "You have never been comfortable with the grey places in life – even when you were a kid…How complicated?" He arched a brow.

Brennan stood up from the table, "I am done talking with you about this…But I would like it if you stayed for awhile…You are right about me needing time to adjust to this and if you're here I won't have to take as much time off of work to meet with the contractors. And since Cam comes back this week from her over-extended vacation, I get the feeling I'll be needed at the lab."

"Which one is Cam?"

"My boss." Brennan recognized that didn't register with her father, "She's the one that you said talked too much and too fast. She's been out of town visiting a new boyfriend."

"Oh, her. I like her she's feisty. But then, I like all the people you work with – some more than others but…"

She glared at her father, "I'm done with this conversation."

He stood and returned her defiant glare, "I get the feeling we're just starting this conversation. Good thing that I'm going to be hanging around, huh?"

"I'm going outside to take some measurements. Maybe when I get back you will have thought of some new topics of conversation, ok?"

Max watched as his daughter slammed the back door and made her way across the back lawn. Stride for stride she was every inch her mother's daughter – believing that she always knew what was right, insane temper and all.


	18. Chapter 18

"Well if I had one wish in this god-forsaken world, kids  
It'd be that your mistakes would be your own  
Yea your sins would be your own."

_-Bruce Springsteen, __Long Time Comin'_

Brennan had stormed out of her home under the guise of needing to take measurements – of what she didn't know. Instead of heading inside and letting her father think that she had stormed out with no definite purpose, she wondered around the property. Brennan had to stay away from her father's knowing gaze. How could a man who had been absent for so many years of her life read her life an open book? Then again she thought, some people were just like that – Booth had been like that from the beginning. It had made it harder for her to hide her emotions from him but easier to let him in and then harder to let him go. Brennan suspected that this could turn into a vicious cycle if something wasn't done.

Max sat in the kitchen and watched his daughter stomp around the yard, trying to appear busy even though he knew she wasn't. He shook his head and worried if he had pre-destined her either genetically or environmentally to always be in a state of unrest. Even before he and Ruth had made the decision to run, he was hard on his daughter. He was hard on her because she was so smart and so empathetic to the world that he feared if she wasn't challenged on a regular basis that her brilliant mind and good heart would go to waste. He always questioned the decision he made to leave her but it was moments like these, when she was so completely tangled up within herself, that he questioned whether the choices he made before then did the real damage.

Just as he decided that is was time to go outside and talk with her about this, her cell phone started vibrating across the counter. Without thinking, Max answered the phone.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end sounded confused, "Who is this?"

"You called me, who is this?"

"I asked first."

"Well, you called me so I guess I can just hang up if you want to be rude about it."

"The phone you are holding is property of the federal government and you have no business answering it." The voice on the other end growled.

Max grinned, "Booth, why didn't you just say it was you?"

"Max? Why are you answering Bones' phone?"

"Oh, you know she normally has the thing attached to her hip but I just ticked her off and she stormed out of here and left it on the counter."

Booth laughed, "Was she so angry she got in the car or…"

"No, she's around here somewhere. Strutting around the yard…Do you want me to go get her?

"Nah, just tell her that Sweets and Finn want to have dinner tonight and tell her to call me or Finn back when she has a minute."

"I can do that…How are you, son? Things working out for you back in the city?"

"As well as to be expected. How long are you in town for Max?"

"Hard to say, at least until I know my girl is safe and settled out here in the country."

"Does she know that's why you're there?"

"Can't keep anything from her so, yes she does."

"I'm impressed that she's letting you stay."

"Between you and me – she's letting me stay under the guise of needing someone to let workers in and out but truthfully, I don't think she's ready to be out here all alone and she'd never admit that."

"No Max, no she wouldn't"


	19. Chapter 19

"When I look at myself I don't see  
The man I wanted to be  
Somewhere along the line I slipped off track  
I'm caught movin' one step up and two steps back."

- Bruce Springsteen, _One Step Up_

Booth arrived at Sweets' house first. Finn met him at the door.

"Did you not call Temperance?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

"I called her, she called me back, and she said she'd be here."

"Oh, aren't we quite the gentleman Seel? You should've picked the lady up."

"Bones? Have you not met her? I offered to give her a ride and she said she'd meet me here….She was busy with her Dad."

"I love her father….I don't care what he may have done in the past, he is…" Finn stopped her sentence with a sigh.

"Really Finn? You have a crush on Max?" Booth shook his head, she was not the first woman to share this information with him.

"He's a _very_ charming man."

"Whatever you say." Booth looked around the kitchen, "Where's my Sweet-ness?"

"He's in the shower…Do you want a drink, you look like hell."

"You know? I never get tired of hearing how crappy I look, never." He grimaced, "Ah, Finny it's been a long week, I had a very long conversation with Rebecca last night. A drink sounds great."

"Everything ok with Parker?" She asked as she handed him a beer.

"Parker's fine, she and I were discussing how things were going to work since I'm back." What Booth chose to not tell Finn was that Rebecca was getting remarried and the news hit him much harder than he expected. He didn't love Rebecca anymore - at least not that way but she was another person in his life who was moving forward. And now Parker was going to have a full-time Dad and Booth hated that he had never been able to give that to his son.

"Seel, you have rights. Do not let her-"

"She actually wants me to have more time with him. She's not trying to keep him from me."

"Oh, good. That's really good, a boy should spend as much time with his father as possible."

"Yeah, his father…"

"Booth, glad you could make it. Where's Brennan?" Sweets asked as he entered the kitchen.

Booth grumbled, "Why does everyone assume that we would come together?"

Sweets put his hands up in defense, "Ok, big guy. Chill. I just thought…but I thought wrong." He looked at Finn, who shrugged – she didn't know what his problem was either.

"Seeley has had a long week and his a little cranky." Finn offered as an explanation.

"I'm not cranky! Ok, maybe I'm a little cranky. There's so much to deal with. Do you realize that come June, I'll have 60 agents under me? Becca has asked that I take Parker more often – which is great but overwhelming and there's-"

The doorbell rang and Finn went to get it.

"And there's other issues I'm dealing with." He continued

Sweets grinned, "What kind of _other_ issues?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

Booth knew exactly what the kid was referring to, he had been bugging and nudging Booth all week about all things Brennan and he was fed up, "Grow up. Seriously."

When Finn went to let Brennan in she found her standing with her back to the door, staring at the driveway.

"Temperance? Everything ok?"

Brennan turned, "Yeah, on my way over here my car started making this clicking, whirling noise. The lease is up next week so I'm not too worried about it but…"

"Come in, Seeley is already here and dinner is ready."

When Brennan entered the kitchen, she saw Booth and Sweets having a heated non-conversation, they seemed to be having a battle of wits with their eyes. She realized that it had been a week since she'd seen Booth. He had been busy dealing with all of his new departments and she was trying to give him space. When he left her house the night of his party she thought things were ok between them. He was the last to leave, after checking all her windows and making notes for the contractors about which ones needed new locks. There was a long hug and a quick kiss on the cheek and he was gone. Nothing was said about their barn liaison and she was ok with that or at least that's what she had been telling herself all week.

As she took a seat next to him at the table she realized that maybe she wasn't ok with it. He smelled good and looked even better and her heart fell when he turned and smiled at her. Seeing the 'charm' smile she had spent years telling him not to use on her she was once again happy that he was one of those people who never did what she asked.


	20. Chapter 20

"Now those memories come back to haunt me  
they haunt me like a curse  
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true  
Or is it something worse."

- Bruce Springsteen, _The River_

During dinner, Booth asked, "So, Bones how has your week been?"

"Busy, Cam's away and until she gets back I'm kind of in charge and my Dad came Wednesday night – he's helping me with a few projects around the house and staying until I get a security system installed."

"He said that?" Booth was surprised that Max had been so forward.

"Yes, he doesn't think I'm ready to be alone in an isolated place." She sighed, "It's fine at least he'll be home during the day to let the contractors in and out."

"By the way Temperance, I got us an appointment with Tony for Tuesday, he said he can do the rest of your fill-in then." Finn said with a grin.

Brennan moaned, "It's fine the way it is, really."

"You can not walk around with a half finished tattoo the rest of your life." Finn insisted.

Booth nearly choked on his pasta at the word tattoo, "You, Bones…got a tattoo?"

Brennan nodded, "Against my will."

"How can someone give you a tattoo against your will?"

"When you lose a bet with them." Sweets pointed out.

Booth laughed, "Who did you lose a bet to, Angela?"

"These two." Brennan pointed at Sweets and Finn, "The couple that Angela and Hodgins have started calling Swinn. I lost a bet to them and since I am a woman of my word, I had to get a tattoo of their choosing."

Booth looked at Finn, "What was the bet over? What did you choose?"

"No, stop! We are not discussing it." Brennan protested.

"Sorry bone lady, I gotta tell him." Finn looked at Booth, "When you went back to Richmond after the holidays we bet over whether or not you would take the job. We, Lance and I, thought you would – Temperance thought differently."

"Bones, you didn't think I'd come back?" He asked almost sounding hurt.

"No, I didn't. You didn't seem that interested in the job and you seemed very uncomfortable here so, no I didn't think you'd come back." She looked over at him and tilted her head, "I'm glad you did, I just didn't think you would."

"What's the tat of? Come on, tell me!" He pinched her arm.

"I was only given two choices so I picked the lesser of two evils. I could get the Wonder Woman symbol or a skull and cross bones."

Booth smiled at Swinn in approval, "You two are evil geniuses. That's good stuff. So, Bones, which was less evil for you?"

"The skull and cross bones – I figured that I don't know how I'll feel about Wonder Woman in 20 years but I'll always be interested in bones so…"

Finn cut in, "The only problem is, he got halfway through filling in the skull and she started to black out from the pain so she needs to go back." The entire table burst into laughter at the idea of Brennan ever being in that much pain.

"Hey! That's a very sensitive area! It hurt, a lot more than Samantha said it would."

Finn stopped laughing, "Temperance, I thought you had a much higher tolerance for pain and I didn't know you were going to get it right on your hip bone. Mine is on a fleshier area."

Booth's head was spinning, there were so many questions and images in his mind, "Ok, just so we're straight – you have a half finished skull and cross bone tattoo on your hip because I came home when you thought I wouldn't? Is all of that correct?"

The three at the table nodded, 'yes'

"That is shocking. Awesome, but shocking." Booth looked at Brennan, she certainly was not the woman he first met. "Gonna show me it to me?"

Brennan's mind flashed to the sensation of his lips on hers that night in the barn the previous week. She had spent all week thinking about how far things would have gone if Sarah hadn't shown up – he would have seen it if things had gone farther, "No, you can not. It's far too low down to show in mixed company." She looked at Booth and instantly she knew that mentally he was back in the loft, pinning her against the wall. They blushed and looked away from each other.

If their hosts didn't have so much on their minds, they would have noticed the shared embarrassment but Swinn had an announcement to make.

Sweets cleared his throat, "Ok, now you know Brennan's 'shocking' news, Sam and I have some of our own."

Booth's entire body seized up, he didn't know if he'd be able to handle another bout with someone else's good news.

Finn shared a happy but anxious smile with Sweets and continued, "This time next month, Lance and I will be the parent's to a 9-month old little boy from Vietnam."

Brennan jumped up from the table, "You guys, that is amazing. I didn't know you were even trying to have kids!" She hugged them both and then looked over at a stone-faced Booth. When he noticed Brennan looking at him, he stood and smiled.

Lance explained, "We weren't. We always had planned on adopting and we got the call last night. We've been waiting for months to find out about our application. We talked to some couples who waited for years but we weren't picky about sex or age so we had fewer problems than we thought we would."

"Finny, I'm very happy for you." Booth said quietly as he gave her a tight squeeze. When he let her go, he looked at Sweets, "I know I give you hell but you guys are going to be fantastic parents. Just what every kid needs, two shrinks raising him!" Sweets stuck out his hand for Booth to shake and was surprised when Booth reached out and hugged him. "I get to be the god father, right?"

Sweets smiled, "Do we have a choice?"

"I always like to make you think you have a choice but…no, you do not." Booth grinned, he was happy for them, they deserved all the joy in the world but secretly he wondered why he wasn't as deserving.


	21. Chapter 21

"They say in the end true love prevails  
But in the end true love can't be no fairytale  
To say I'll make your dreams come true would be wrong  
But maybe, darlin', I could help them along."

- Bruce Springsteen, _I Wanna Marry You_

Brennan was the first to call it a night. She was anxious that her father was alone in her house. She had nothing to hide but the man had no shame. She said a few quick good-byes and headed out to her car. When she turned the ignition it spun all the way around. She tried it 3 times before walking back into the house. She hated asking for help and she knew whose help she was going to get in this situation.

While Booth and Sweets went out to look at her car, Brennan stayed inside and chatted with Finn.

"How do you think Seeley really feels about Lance and I adopting?"

"I'm sure he's thrilled – he just looked surprised. And a little sad, everyone in his life is moving on and he's further behind now than he was 5 years ago. He'll be fine, he loves you guys and he loves kids – just give him some time."

Finn looked at Brennan thoughtfully, "I totally get why he stayed away from you for as long as he did."

"Why?" Brennan didn't think she'd ever understand.

"You know him. I mean you _know_ him. I get him and Lance understands him but you _know_ him and there was no way he could bullsh** you."

Just as Brennan was ready to respond, Booth and Sweets re-entered the house, "Bones, the threads on the ignition are completely stripped. Next time – buy American, ok?"

"I didn't buy it in the first place – it was given to me. The lease is up next week anyway. Did you get it started?"

Booth snickered, "No, it's not going to start without a new ignition and starter. Come on, I'll take you home."

"No, I'll call a cab." Brennan wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of being alone with Booth in the front seat of his car.

"How long have you known me? Get your coat and get in my car – I'm taking you home. Got it?"

"Fine. Fine."

Swinn watched in amusement as the two bickered out the door and down the driveway, their voices only silenced when Booth started up the Camaro. Finn looked over at her husband, "They're happy like that, aren't they?"

He nodded, "You know how we like to lay around on Sunday and catch up on our Tivo? That's how much they love that, it's their favorite past time."


	22. Chapter 22

"Now your legs were heaven your breasts were the altar  
Your body was the holy land  
You shouted "jump" but my heart faltered  
You laughed and said "Baby don't you understand?"

- Bruce Springsteen, _Leap of Faith_

When Booth pulled up to Brennan's the house was dark.

"Looks like your Dad has already turned in for the night."

Brennan undid her seatbelt, "Yeah, he's old but you know how that is. It must be past your bed time too?"

"Not funny." He stepped out of the car and looked up, "The stars are not this bright in the city, are they?"

"No, they aren't…What are you doing? The beauty of me living here is that you can watch me walk to the door – no more following me upstairs like in the apartment." She grinned, knowing that he would always walk her to her door, regardless of the circumstances.

"You just don't want me talking to Max. Don't want us ganging up on you."

She squinted at him, "I can handle you. Trust me, you are the last of my concerns."

He arched a brow and looked at her, "Is that so?"

She leaned toward him and whispered, "I can pretty much guarantee it."

"Yeah, you always did get your way with me, huh?"

"Most of the time. You were good like that. Thanks for the ride – I'll send a tow truck over to Sweets' house tomorrow to have them take it back to the dealership. Guess I'll have to go pick out a new one."

"Poor you. Must suck having to pick out a new Mercedes." He looked over at the barn, the structure that had been haunting his dreams both at night and day all week, "Someone left the doors and windows open over there – that on purpose?"

Brennan sighed, "No, when I left my Dad was out there and he promised me that he'd take care of it." She started walking toward the barn and she could hear Booth directly behind her.

He helped her close the stall windows and he heard her head up the stairs to take care of the loft window. His first instinct, his good instinct told him to stay put but the rest of him had him running up the steps before the good part could finish its argument. He saw her standing there, not moving – as if she was waiting for him even though she appeared startled when his feet hit the landing.

Before she had the chance to say anything, they were up against the rough, wood walls of the barn, partaking in a repeat performance of the previous week's tryst. This time, there were no lights in the driveway and no house full of people waiting for them. There was the two of them, crickets and silence.

Brennan pulled back and looked at him a moment, her face in his hands. There would be no deliberation, no chaste flirtation. She moved his hand from her face and kissed the center of his palm.

Booth wanted to walk away but the allure of her and this moment was tremendous. She was an enigma and she was everything he had ever imagined desiring in a woman. He tried to mask the confusion of emotions playing over his face but soon realized he couldn't mask them from her. And then he leaned in and took her face in his hands again, his mouth on hers, pulling her against him insistently. She yielded, she gave in. He found her mouth, her neck, and their breath quickened. Thoughts about everything else; the past three years, lines being crossed and what would happen after they were down left her mind. She could think only of this and the feeling of being wrapped in his arms.

As he felt her started to relax into him he hesitated and looked at her, "Bones, you deserve more than this. You deserve better than this."

Brennan knew exactly what he meant but she also knew she didn't want him to stop out of his sense of chivalry. She smiled coyly and whispered, "Then give me more and better of this."


	23. Chapter 23

"And we danced all night to a soul fairy band  
and she kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can  
She felt so nice, just as soft as a spirit in the night"

- Bruce Springsteen, _Spirit in the Night_

He grinned at her openly suggestive statement and decided that it was time to give someone better and more of himself. He picked her up and laid her down on a painter's tarp. He hovered over her, knowing that this would change everything but at the moment he didn't care and he could tell by the way she was licking her lips and bucking her hips toward him, she didn't care either.

Normally for Booth this would be the time where sweet-nothings were whispered and secrets were nuzzled into his lover's ears but he sensed that anything he said to Brennan at this point would ring false. She knew him too well. He slowly peeled her shirt off of her while she voluntarily shucked off her jeans. She waited in anticipation as he pulled his shirt over his head and then let his mouth find its way back to concave area where her neck met her shoulder – in less than 20 minute together he had discovered that was her spot, the one that she would never deny him.

He then seized her lips once again. Kissing that was both fierce and passionate it had the force of 8 years of sexual frustration finally being un-bottled. Kissing her was unlike any experience he had ever known, it felt right and old and brand new and wrong all at once. The following events had the same urgency and need but there was more under the surface; for Booth is was a feeling that maybe this was the reason he had Come Home and for Brennan it was that she knew right that now no matter how many other things he needed from her to move on with his life – to begin to live a full life, this is what she could offer him now.

When it was over, he rolled over on his shoulder, propping his head up with one arm and looked over at her. He rubbed his thumb over her the tattoo on her hipbone and offered a sly smile, "You really do need to get this filled in."

"I know – it just hurt more than I imagined." She gave him a fake pout.

He bent down and lightly kissed it, "Well, you could leave it the way it is but you don't ever leave anything half done – do you?"

Without looking up at him, she said quietly, "I try not to…"

He pulled the green canvas jacket he had been wearing up around her and pulled her closer to him, "Bones, this isn't…" he sighed into her hair.

"Booth, don't tell me what this isn't." She sat up pulling her knees to her chin, draping the jacket around her upper torso, "Let _me_ tell you what this is. You and I have always had the need to connect – from the day we met, we were always looking for that one thing between us. This might be all we have right now – all we _can_ have."

He looked over at her, barely covered in the moonlight, "And you're ok with just this?"

"Not entirely, but…"

"But what?"

"Look, I'm not good at this stuff but I know that I've missed you and that….that we're lonely and we need…I know this changes nothing and Monday morning we're just us but let's face it – we both needed this."

"We did?" Booth asked slightly amused.

"You didn't?"

"Oh, I did. I just never thought that….I never thought I'd use you for it."

"You didn't use me – I wanted this and I understand."

"Understand what?"

"That this is all you have to offer me right now and I'm ok with that because for years you tried to offer me more and I didn't get it then but I get it now."

"What did I try to offer you before?"

"Friendship, but more than that you wanted me to know that I wasn't alone in the world. That you were right there beside me and now – I'm right here beside you." She turned to look him straight in the eye, "I'm not going anywhere."

Booth couldn't help but grin, " This was _not_ the kind of connection you needed back then."

"No, but I know now that it would have been nice."

"You thought that was nice?

Brennan nodded enthusiastically.

"Wrong word choice Bones. Amazing, earth shattering, perfection personified but nice?" He winced at the last word.

"Sorry….this was nice and I'm sure eventually it will be all of the things that you just mentioned but…"

"Eventually?"

"Something tells me this will happen again and again and again. But only when you're ready and able to accept that this is a good thing and you deserve it."

He leaned down and kissed her temple, "I loved old Bones, in a platonic, kinda-wanted –to-jump-you way but I really like this new Bones."

She smiled at him, "Oh, I love the new me. She's not afraid to be happy. And I owe that all to you…But you should get dressed." When she saw the hurt look on his face she reminded him, "My Dad…asleep in the main house? Your car, not quiet? Remember?"

"Right, I should get going."

She walked him down to his car and when he leaned in to kiss her goodnight, she offered her cheek. "This was great, it was what we both needed but Seeley Booth, I want all of you and until I can have that I'd rather we kept it simple…. Good night, Booth."

"Bones, nothing has ever been simple with us – you realize that right?"

"I know, but we're not the same us we use to be. Maybe this time it'll be less confusing – maybe."


	24. Chapter 24

"I search for connection in some new eyes  
But they're hard for protection from too many dreams passed by  
I see you standing across the room watching me without a sound  
Well I'm gonna push my way through that crowd, I'm gonna tear all your walls down."

- Bruce Springsteen, _My Love Will Not Let You Down  
_

The next morning, Brennan woke early with a loud grumble. She was finding it hard to believe that she had actually told Booth that she wanted him, _all of him_. Part of her was hoping that the previous night was just one episode in a long-running series she had been producing in her nightly dreams that centered on that man. But when she rolled over and saw his green Army jacket on the edge of her bed she knew it had been no dream. At least with the dreams, only she knew how happy she was after the events and how flushed their activities left not only her face but also her entire body. Now he knew as well and in the harsh light of the morning she couldn't decide if that was truly a good thing. One thing she was certain of was that the brief time she had spent in his arms the night before gave her a small preview to what every night could be like and she knew without giving it a single thought that's what she wanted.

Those dreams…Brennan tried to pretend that she didn't know when they had started but she did. They started the night that they had worked a case on top of the Washington Memorial, they had been through a rough few days as partners. Truth was, she was angrier with him that day than she had ever been before or since and yet that night was the first night he crept into her bed or at least the thought of him did. Since then he hadn't come to her nightly, usually after a really good day or an equally really bad day. If Brennan were the type of woman to believe in a higher power, she would have to concede that he was sent into her subconscious when she needed him most. That could be the reason that there were few nights over the course of the past 3 years that he hadn't made an appearance. The dreams weren't always sexual but the best ones were.

She lay in her bed a little longer, listening to the workman downstairs and decided that it was time to face the music or at least her father.


	25. Chapter 25

"Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby  
edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley  
through the middle of my soul."

- Bruce Springsteen, _I'm On Fire  
_

Monday morning Booth was sitting outside Finn's office trying to decide whether or not to go in. He had spent the previous day holed up in his house – avoiding reality or at least trying to. His soul felt lighter but his conscience was heavy as hell. He needed to talk to someone about what had happened with Brennan and no matter how close he and Sweets had become, he still viewed the young doctor as a little brother – not exactly the person you want to discuss your sex life with. Baba was a great listener but offered very little insight into what was right or wrong.

Just as Booth was ready to leave, he decided that maybe Finn wasn't the best person to talk with, he saw her come out the side door, cigarette in hand. He hopped out of the car and quickly crossed the street – sneaking up on the secret smoker.

"I thought you were only doing this in times of high stress, Finny?"

"Time and time again, I have asked you to not use your Special Forces ninja skills on me, Seeley! And for your information – this _is_ a time of high stress! I am adopting a child in a month." She took a long, dramatic drag of her cigarette and looked at his furrowed brow, "What brings you here? Don't you have a job?"

He leaned up against the wall and sighed, "I did something stupid Saturday night, Finn."

Her eyes lit up, "Good stupid or bad stupid?"

"Reckless stupid…I slept with Bones."

She grinned, "In that case, you _did_ someone very smart – I hear she's a genius. Have you heard that?"

"Don't be cute. This is serious. I had sex with my partner – I crossed the line."

She looked up at his conflicted eyes and rested her cigarette-free hand on his arm, "Seeleybaby, she's not your partner anymore – what line could you have crossed?"

"You don't get it…I've always been there to protect her from the worst in the world and…"

"You think you're something she needs to be protected from? Give me a flippin' break!"

"I can't be what she needs…I can't"

"But maybe you are what she wants – Temperance has everything she needs…I have a patient in a few minutes but Lance is away tonight if you want to come over for dinner."

"Where's my Sweet-tart off to?"

"He got a call this morning. He and Sarah and Temperance had to go to Maryland for a case."

Booth shook his head, "No one called me…but I haven't been in the office. Another reason why things with Bones and I won't work. She makes my head spin and I forget what I'm supposed to do. " He turned and headed to his car, "Dinner sounds food Finn – 6, work?"

"See you then…stop stressing!"


	26. Chapter 26

"I will provide for you  
And I'll stand by your side  
You'll need a good companion for  
This part of the ride"

- Bruce Springsteen, _Land of Hope and Dreams_

"Brennan, your phone is ringing." Sweets pointed out. He knew it was Booth calling – who else would she have _Back in Black_ selected for as a ringtone.

"I hear it. You answer it." She hadn't spoken to Booth since that night in the barn and she wasn't ready to have her first chat with him in front of Sarah and Sweets.

"Uh, Dr. Brennan's phone….she's here…driving…don't know… the body will be back at the lab in the morning…we are." He put the phone up to his chest and looked at Brennan, "Booth wants to know where we are."

"In the case or geographically?"

"She said…ok, ok…here." He thrusted the phone at Brennan.

She rolled her eyes and took the phone, "Brennan….we are about 25 minutes outside of the city…I'm driving, I didn't want to answer the phone….I am an excellent driver! They trust me to drive – _they_ prefer it…..ok, tomorrow…be there by 11…why 11…I have to go pick up my new car around lunch….a Prius….stop it….no…good night Booth."

She tossed the phone back to Sweets. Sarah leaned forward from the backseat. "Is Booth ok with everything?"

Brennan sighed, "He's fine…a little cranky that he's not in the field – not that he would admit that but he is." Sarah seemed pleased with her answer and rested back into the seat and started her IPod back on.

"Brennan, I couldn't help but notice the hostility in your voice. Everything ok with you two?" Sweets asked, hoping to not appear too interested.

"We're fine…just…we're fine. He's headed to your house by the way for dinner. He does spend an awful amount of time at your place doesn't he?"

"He does, I don't think his new place is all that welcoming yet and Samantha's good for him."

"How?"

"She makes him talk about things and he can't deny her anything. I wish I knew her when I first started with you guys –nothing would have gotten past me."

"Does he tell her everything?" Brennan's pulse raced at the idea of him disclosing their barnyard liaison.

Sweets shrugged, "Inadvertently, he doesn't realize exactly what he says when he talks. She's a smart woman – doesn't miss much….God, I love her."

Brennan grinned, "She is pretty great – you're lucky." She thought for a moment, "Do you think he's going to be ok? I mean, I know he's back and things appear good but…"

"You're worried, I get that." Sweets tilted his head and in the dark it almost appeared that she had a hint of a tear in her eye. "Brennan, he's on his way. He's home and that's the important part."

"I just want him to be happy. I miss him happy." She wiped away a single tear and that signified to Sweets that the conversation was over.

Sweets leaned his head against the passenger window and watched the cars fly by and wondered if not only did Brennan want him happy but if she wanted to be the one to make him happy.


	27. Chapter 27

"I knew some day your runnin' would be through  
And you'd think back on me and you  
And your love would be strong  
You'd forget all the bad and think only of all the laughs that we had  
And you'd wanna come home."

- Bruce Springsteen, _When You're Alone_

"Is this him?" Booth asked, holding up a picture of baby swaddled in a blue blanket. They had just finished dinner and he was helping Fin clean up.

"Yes, that's our boy. Ryan Finn Sweets." Finn grinned at the picture.

"Good name…"

"Yeah, Ryan was Lance's Dad's name, Gwen's middle name and your middle name – obviously you know that, so…"

Booth thought for a minute, "I had completely forgot that was her middle name….the more time passes it feels like…"

"The more you forget? That's normal…you hold on to the good, the important. You hold onto the things that she gave you that changed you…Seels we never talk about her."

"I know." He said quietly without looking up from the table.

"Do you want to? Talk about her, I mean?"

He sighed, "What did Gwen give me? She gave me a glimpse at the life I could have had. When I saw myself reflected in her eyes, I was human again - she needed me. I was her protector and I liked the way I looked in her eyes. When she died I stopped seeing that. I have seen it…"

"You see that when Tempe looks at you don't you?"

He shrugged, "Not the life I could have part but the rest, yeah…Bones has faith in me. _In me. _This is a woman who believes in nothing but science."

"And you – she believes in you. She never stopped." Finn sympathetically looked at him, "Come on, big guy we all believe in you but she does it on an entirely different level."

Booth smiled, "Bones does everything on an entirely different level…Man, she hated me! I don't know how I did it but I ended up worming my way in there and…and we became…us. And then we weren't any more and now we're…"

"Something new and exciting and scary. I get that but you need to let her in Seeley. She's the only one that can fix this."

"What needs to be fixed?"

"YOU!" She stormed through the kitchen and out to the deck.

Booth followed her out, "Now what are you stressed about? You have got to quit smoking or I'm going to tell Sweets." He said with a grin.

Finn stepped to him and spoke directly into his face, "You do that and I'll tell him about you boning your lovely Bones."

"You are far too smart and pretty to be so vulgar, Samantha."

"And you are far too good of a man and far too hot to be spending your life alone Seeley!"

"Fine! Truce?" He knew when he was beat and for some reason he always lost when it came to Finn. She was too smart and all-knowing. She saw him for exactly for who he was just like Brennan. But unlike Brennan, Finn said exactly what she wanted when she wanted – be damned the consequences.

After they had made their way back inside, Booth settled on the couch. Finn brought him a scotch and sat on the floor crossed legged, making her appear much younger than her almost-30-years.

"Not to pry but why adoption? You guys are young and healthy, right?"

Finn knew that this question would eventually come up, she had just hoped that Sweets would be the one to answer it, "Genetics, we decided to adopt because of genetics…Lance didn't want to take the chance of passing on his families health issues so…"

Booth was puzzled, at first, "What health iss…mental health issues, you mean?"

She nodded, "You know all about Gwen's struggles but did you also know that their father and grandfather both suffered from depression and anxiety disorders. He wanted to be safe and we have the means to adopt so…"

"Smart decision." It then dawned on Booth that he and Gwen never discussed this. They talked about everything but never the consequences of the future they had both wanted. So much time had passed that he had forgotten the bad – he only allowed himself to remember the good. She needed him so much and he loved that, he craved it and because of that he overlooked everything else. In his mind she was a perfect creature but in reality she was troubled. Sitting in Gwen's brother's living room and chatting with his exceptional wife, Booth realized that he hadn't lost the future he had wanted he just lost Gwen, the woman he had loved.


	28. Chapter 28

"In Candy's room there are pictures of her heroes on the wall  
but to get to Candy's room you gotta walk the darkness of Candy's hall  
Strangers from the city call my baby's number and they bring her toys  
When I come knocking she smiles pretty she knows I wanna be Candy's boy  
There's a sadness hidden in that pretty face  
A sadness all her own from which no man can keep Candy safe."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Candy's Room_

The next morning Booth strolled into the Jeffersonian like he owned the place. He swaggered into Brennan's office just like he always had, as if nothing had changed. From the outside it would appear that there were no missing years or one reckless night between them.

"Bones, I'm here and it is before 11 – whatta ya got for me?"

She shrugged, "Not much, Hodgins is still doing trace and Angela's working on the facial reconstruction."

"That's all you have? Tsk, Tsk, you use to work much faster than this."

"I can tell you that the victim is male, mid 30's to late 40's and from the cursory exam it appears he was shot at close range."

"You just said that you didn't have much – that's a lot." He remained standing, not sure where his place was in her office.

"That's not enough to take to the Deputy Director – you know that. We never would have gone to Cullen with such little information."

"I'm not Cullen, I like the details."

Brennan sighed, "Very soon you're not going to have time for the details. We'll just be one more cog in the Booth machine."

"You guys are not cogs nor will you ever be cogs." He sounded defeated, deflated.

"I just mean that when things really get rolling with your department you won't have time to swing by here for bits and pieces, you'll have to wait for the final report." She said apologetically.

"You guys will always be the cogs nearest and dearest to my heart."

"Good to know."

He rested both hands on the desk and leaned forward, "We should talk about…you know…things."

"I don't want to…at least not now, not here. This is between you and I – I'd like to keep it that way."

Booth nodded in agreement, even though he had spilled his guts to Finn the night before. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Tonight? I have plans…sorry." She couldn't even look at him when she said it.

"You're in the middle of a case, what plans do you have?" He asked suspiciously. He knew that she wasn't his but in a primal, animalistic way he felt that she was. He thought after the previous weekend she felt it too. Maybe he had been wrong.

"Personal plans. Plans of a personal nature." When she saw the hurt in his eyes she added, "Alone plans."

"So you're not avoiding talking to me?"

"I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?"

"You know what I mean…I don't want this to become a bridge we can't cross."

Hodgins knocked on the door, "Dr. B, ready to go?"

"I'm coming Hodgins." She looked at Booth, "He's taking me to pick up my car."

"You mean your new vacuum, have you heard the engine on one of those things? Not a very tough sound."

She smiled, "I don't need a car to sound tough – I need it to get me to work and home." As she walked past him she placed a hand on his jaw, cupping it, "And about that bridge? What if I don't want to cross it, what if I like where I'm at and see no reason to build a bridge?" She raised her eyebrows and in the process Booth's heart rate.

He shuddered as he watched her strut out of the lab as if she knew watch she had just done, the state she had left him in. Maybe, just maybe she did.


	29. Chapter 29

"Sometimes it might seem like it was planned  
For you to roam empty hearted through this land  
Though the world turns you hard and cold  
There's one thing mister, that I know  
That's if you think your heart is stone  
And that you're rough enough to whip this world alone  
Alone buddy there ain't no peace of mind."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Two Hearts  
_

After leaving the lab Booth busied himself with paperwork but he couldn't get the thought of Brennan's 'alone plans' out of his head. At the end of the day he headed home but after taking care of Baba he couldn't sit still in his own home much longer after that. He decided to take Baba for a ride when he remembered that he had left his jacket at Brennan's place that night in the barn – the perfect reason to swing by and see what she was up to.

When he pulled in the drive, he saw that her car wasn't there but Max's was. He thought about turning around and leaving but Max was sitting on the front porch reading Brennan's newest book so he had no choice but to get out of the car. He opened the door and Baba ran right up the steps – like he knew exactly where he was going.

"Booth my boy, what brings you here?"

"I, uh…left my jacket here over the weekend and I thought I'd pick it up…Bones around?" He tried to sound as casual as possible but he feared it wasn't working.

"She hasn't come home from work yet. She works late hours, you know?" He smiled slyly.

"Come on, she said she had plans tonight. By herself – you have to know where she is." Booth took a seat on the steps, next to Baba who had decided that the front porch was a perfect place for him to stretch out.

"I don't know where my daughter is, sorry."

"Max, I know you know where she is. You are a fiercely protective, guard dog of a man."

"Hmm, you think that's why you and I get along so well? The whole guard dog gene we share?"

Booth glared at Max, "Look, things have been different since I've been back and she was very vague about her plans for tonight and yes…there is a part of me that still feels the need to watch over her."

"Then why'd you stay gone for so long?"

"I had my own issues to work out, ok? I don't need to justify myself to you – of all people."

"And yet, you are standing here doing just that." Max looked at Booth and knew exactly what he was thinking and why, "Son, I understand the pain your loss caused you. To lose your Gwen before you ever really had her. You will miss her and grieve her everyday of your life."

Booth looked at the older man and realized that he may be able to offer insights into moving on better than anyone else, "How do I….how do I do this? Live a normal life?"

"Slowly and cautiously – at first but then there's going to come a point where you can't be cautious anymore. You'll just have to go for it."

"Go for what?"

"Happiness, love – all the good stuff. Trust me, a life lived alone is no life at all…I'm going to tell you something about my daughter that I don't think even she knows." Max paused, letting his last statement sink in.

Exasperated, Booth asked, "What?"

"She loves you. And not in that he's-my-partner-and-friend-and-we-share-a special-bond kind of way. You taught her to open her heart a long time ago. I don't think she really understood how open it was until she watched you lose Gwen. All the hurt and pain you experienced, she did too. For you – she wept for you."

This revelation shocked Booth, "Why?"

"She told me that you were far too good a man to have to deal with the terrible things that life kept throwing at you and she worried that by losing Gwen you'd give up."

"Give up? On what?"

Max shrugged, "She never said and we never talked about it again. You should ask her."

"Yeah, that'll happen." Booth said sarcastically as he looked at the horizon and the setting sun.

Picking the book back up, Max asked, "So, do you think Andy is going to make it?"

Booth shrugged one shoulder, "I think that is still left to be determined."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

When Brennan returned home that night she was amused but not surprised to find Booth's car in her driveway. He never could handle not knowing where she was.

As she walked into her house she heard her father and Booth talking in the kitchen, she tried to quickly shrug off his jacket before he saw her wearing it but she wasn't quick enough.

As soon as Baba heard her come in the door he had started barking and Booth came around the corner soon after. She had one arm in the jacket and one out. Booth smirked, "Nice coat. I use to have one just like it."

Brennan grimaced and started to ramble off an excuse, "Sorry, I had it with me because….I knew I was going to see you today….and I planned….I planned to give it to you at the museum and I forgot and it was colder tonight than I thought it was going to be so I put it on." She took it completely off and handed it to him.

"You can keep it if you want Bones. It looks cute on you and besides I got this other one that's _way_ better, it's black and instead of Booth being embroidered on it, my name is in metal on the chest – to paraphrase the Sweetness, it's awesome."

Brennan smiled, "Thanks…" After an awkward moment of silence she asked, "Why are you here?"

"I took Baba for a ride and remembered that my jacket was here and I thought my guy could use the fresh air and I've been here now for almost 2 hours catching up with your Dad."

She eyed him cautiously, "How's that going?"

"Baby, don't worry. Booth and I have more than you to talk about…I'm headed to bed." He walked by and kissed Brennan on the cheek, "Good night, Sweetheart."

He shook Booth's hand, "Booth, do not be a stranger. It was good talking to you."

"You too, Max."

Once they were left alone in the vast emptiness of Brennan's kitchen, Booth leaned against the counter and asked, "So, where've you been Bones?"

"Why do you care, Booth?"

He cared because he just did, because he always had, "Just curious."

She cleared her throat, "Today is exactly 7 years since we buried my mother. I was at the cemetery."

"Whoa, I didn't expect that. You still go every year?"

Brennan was taken back by his surprise – of course she went, he was the one who had convinced her that it was so important. She nodded, "Yes, even with you gone – I still go. Because it's important, right?"

He shrugged and looked down, "I guess..I…"

"I mean, you go to Gwen's grave, right?"

He looked at her, surprised at her question and embarrassed by his answer, "Not since the funeral, no. I haven't gone."

"You should."

"Why?"

She walked closer to him and said quietly, "It's important for you to go there and say that you remember."

"That I remember? Where'd you get that from?" He asked with an eyebrow arched, he knew his own words when they were being repeated back to him.

"Some guy I use to be partners with told me that once." She offered him a crooked smile.

"Sounds like a pretty smart guy."

"Oh, he is, when he's dealing with other people's issues. He's not too quick when it comes to his own."

Now that the focus of the conversation was on him, Booth was uncomfortable. He couldn't play the cocky, off-beat guy when discussing his 'own issues' as Brennan had described them. He looked down at his watch and sighed, "Ah, it's late. I need to get Baba home and I have files to read over for a meeting tomorrow. Do you want to get lunch one day?"

She glared at him with her hands on placed firmly on her hips, "No, I don't."

"Why? I thought we were…"

"I _want _to talk to you now…You keep doing this, the minute things turn toward you and your feelings you bolt. That's not fair."

He glared at her, knowing that she was right and at that moment he hated her just a little for it. He shook his head as he grabbed his keys off of the counter, "Sucks doesn't it? Imagine spending four years as someone's partner, their closest companion and have them never open up to you." He turned on his heel and headed out the door.

Brennan followed quickly behind, "So, that's why you won't talk to me? You're punishing me? Real mature, Booth!"

"Bones, I can't talk to you. Not about this. I'm sorry."

Before the look she saw in his eyes registered with her as fear, Booth was gone and Brennan was left standing on her porch confused and hurting. Had her withholding from Booth all those years hurt him as much then as he was hurting her now?


	30. Chapter 30

"Some need gold and some need diamond rings  
Or a drug to take away the pain that living brings  
A promise of a better world to come  
When whatever here is done  
I don't need that sky of blue  
All I know's since I found you, I'm happy when I'm in your arms."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Happy__  
_

Finn hung up the phone and grinned wickedly at her husband, "You are never going to guess who that was and what she wanted."

Sweets put down his book and looked at Finn who had thrown herself onto the couch, next to him, "You know I'm no good at guessing these things, who called?"

"Temperance just called and wanted Seeley's new address – interesting, huh?" She asked snaking her arms around his neck.

He shrugged, "Sounds like it but it's probably not what you're thinking. They more than likely had a fight and he won't answer his phone so she's going to confront him in person or she's out and just wants to check his place out – she seemed pretty interested in it the other night."

"Really?"

"She asked me why he spends so much time here and I told her it was because I thought his house wasn't much of a home – not yet anyway."

"Do you think there's something going on there?"

He smiled and shook his head, "Since the day I met them I thought there was something going on, but nothing ever came to light and then he met Gwen so…"

"It'd be great though, wouldn't it?"

"It would but…I get the sense that Booth feels inferior to her."

"Seriously? The man is…Lance, I love you more than life but Seeley is…"

"Yes, Samantha I know what Seeley is – Gwen once told me that meeting him was like finding out the Easter Bunny was real."

Finn laughed, "That's a perfect way to describe it…Why would he feel that way about Temperance, I always thought they shared a unique bond?"

"They do or at least they did but in the beginning she never let him forget who was the brains and who was the brawn of their operation – it changed over time but there's got to be part of him that still thinks of himself as a jock with a gun who just got to carry the great Dr. Brennan's bag."

"She really thought of him that way?"

"No, that's the way he thought of himself. Brennan thinks the world of Booth – he earned her trust during a time in her life when she had very little trust to give. He never saw himself the way she did. Why? I'll never know. He got it from Gwen's point of view though, but I think that's because Gwen was so in his face and craved his love that he had no choice. Brennan is a tougher nut to crack – always has been."

Finn pulled back from her husband and cupped his cheek, "Lance, I'm glad I met you when I did. Not under the circumstances that we did but…you know. I love you and I think I love you more having watched you go through all of this with your sister and Seeley and now Temperance. I marvel at the depths of your heart."

"I just want the people I love to be loved and happy in that love. Booth and Gwen made each other happy and I accepted that and if Booth and Brennan find a way to each other, I'll accept that as well. No one deserving to be happy should be alone or miserable under any circumstances." He reached out and ran a finger across her cheek and down her jaw.

"Am I deserving?" She asked coyly.

His eyes sparkled, "You just may be the most deserving person I've ever met."

She stood and announced, "I'm going to run upstairs so you can show me just how deserving I am, ok?"

He laughed as he caught he newly discarded top, "Ok…"

They took off, tearing through their house – enjoying one of their last few nights of freedom before Ryan Finn Sweets came home and their lives changed forever.


	31. Chapter 31

"Stay with me now till the mornin' comes  
Come on now try and understand  
The way I feel when I'm in your hands  
Take me now as the sun descends."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Because the Night  
_

Brennan stood outside Booth's door for a few minutes before knocking. She wasn't sure what she was going to say when he answered it but she knew the important part was the knocking.

When he opened the door, Brennan blurted out, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't push you like that. It's not fair."

"No, it is fair. I was never as blatant as you about it but I pushed you for years – in my own way. Come in."

Brennan stepped into his house and she understood what Sweets had meant about Booth's new place not feeling like a home. It was unpacked and organized but there was no essence of Booth in this residence.

She turned to looked at him leaning against the wall, it appeared he had a million questions on his mind but none that he wanted to share with her so she just started talking, "Booth, I just want…I want you to-to be you. And you're not and there's a small part of me that wonders if you'll ever be again."

"Honestly, I don't know what that means. I am me. I'm just different."

"It's more than different and you know that. Everyone knows that."

"So you guys talk about me?"

"No, well…sometimes. You come up in conversation – a lot. And it never stopped, even when you were away. Someone always found a way to bring your name up, daily."

"I-I" He squeezed his eyes shut, searching for the right thing to say, "I never meant to leave such a void. I'll always be sorry for that."

"I don't want you to be sorry, I want you to be _you_. The Booth I knew, the one who flipped poker chips in the air incessantly and refused to give me a gun – not because you didn't trust me with it but because you liked the idea of being my gun. The only time in the past 6 months that I have even seen a glimpse of the man I knew was…"

He walked toward her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Was when I've been alone with you? In the barn? Yeah, I've noticed that, too."

"Yeah…" She shook gently when he touched her and it didn't go unnoticed by either of them.

"And I have to say that I don't like that…Not the you and me part…but that I only feel…I only feel really _anything_ when I'm with you."

Brennan smiled, "That's a start though, right?"

Without a thought in his mind he reached out and pulled her mouth to his. Kissing her, trying to convey to her that he wanted her that he wanted her and them but he didn't know how to make it happen.

Brennan returned each one of his kisses with slightly more passion and intensity than he offered and before either of them knew it, they were entangled in each other. Unable to tell where either of them started or ended.


	32. Chapter 32

"With her killer graces and her secret places  
That no boy can fill with her hands on her hips  
Oh and that smile on her lips  
Because she knows that it kills me."

- Bruce Springsteen, _She's the One_

Brennan had no intention of this happening when she got in the car and drove to his house but as his lips met that spot, the one that bridged her neck and her shoulder, she gave in. Booth slowly lifted her shirt over her head. And then slowly and expertly he seized her lips once again. There would be no rushing this time - no primal urgency. His tongue darted playfully into her mouth and Brennan learned that a kiss could be so much more than she ever imagined.

He slowly backed her to the bedroom, his bedroom. Brennan pulled him close to her, kissing him as they continued to stumble clumsily toward the bed, all the while still kissing, still connected. Brennan unbuttoned his dress shirt, her hands trailing along his smooth hard chest and down, stopping just at his belt. He shrugged the shirt off and she hastily unbuttoned his pants. Once he was free of them, he sat down on the bed.  
She stood before him and stripped off her remaining pieces of clothing. She loved the smirk on his face as she shimmied out of her panties - it emboldened her. She kneeled before him and ran her hands up his shins and over his thighs, stopping just long enough to drop a kiss at his navel. He gently took her arms and guided her up to him, on to his lap, pulling her closer to his naked body. While facing him, her legs on either side of him, Brennan slowly moved her hands up over his chest, softly letting her fingers dance across his skin and he moaned. Booth arched his body toward - needing to be even closer.

Brennan wrapped her arms around his neck as he spun her around, pulling her backwards. As they fell, Booth's hand was behind her head guiding her toward the sheets just as his hand had once guided the small of her back out of the museum and into the real world.

He gently laid her on her back and hungrily claimed her mouth with his, skating his tongue across her lips as her mouth opened to allow him access. Their tongues danced passionately against each other, neither of them wanting to part. Booth slowly ran his hand across her stomach, stopping to dance across her navel. She begged him to keep moving further and he happily obliged.

Brennan's eyes were closed, her breathing shallower than normal and delightful shivers ran through her body. And then the sensations stopped.

The quick, hurried breaths that Booth had been taking got the better of him and he pulled back for a deep intake of air. He looked into her eyes, smoky with desire, and his heart nearly burst in his chest. He pulled her as close to him as he could, holding her tightly.  
He didn't understand the fear that suddenly threatened to overcome him. He had never been afraid with a beautiful woman in his arms but this was no regular beautiful woman, this was his Bones. The woman he had pretended not to love before he met Gwen. He fought the foreboding he felt lurking at the periphery of his mind. He just needed to hold her to him as closely as possible. He was certain in this instant she would not let his heart burst.

The abrupt shift in his mood was reflected in the deep, dark chocolate of his eyes. She did not understand what was happening, but she willingly folded herself into his arms. For everything she thought she knew and had learned since knowing him, she had never known him like this. He was trembling and she realized that it was one part excitement and one part fear. With her ear pressed tightly against his chest, she could hear the rapid, solid beat of his heart, for all of his well-crafted parts, his heart was by far her favorite one. She pulled him even closer and relaxed against him. She decided that she could wait out the fear with him - she wanted to be the one that was there with him when it passed. She needed to be the first thing he saw when he realized that being happy and alive was good and right and he was worthy of it.

After what seemed like forever passed before Booth moved, propping himself on his elbow, he reached out to cup her chin in his hand – he gently lowered his lips to hers. He felt her smile under his kisses. He pulled back to sweep her hair off of her face so he could see her serene blue eyes. One glance at them and he felt like his heart was starting to open again. He rolled over, barely resting his body on top of hers. She looked at him and said, just above a whisper, "I love you."

He hoarsley said, "Bones, I..."

She leaned up and kissed him, stopping him in mid-sentence. She lightly ran her hand through his hair and stopped it right behind his ear. With a simple touch she was able to tell him that she understood. She could see in his eyes that he wasn't ready for what she said. But she had to say it - she'd been holding it in for far too long.

He saw truth in her eyes and he heard it in her words and it overwhelmed him. He knew that he wasn't ready to make love to her and anything that happened in his bed that night couldn't be less than love. He rolled her over and positioned her snuggly against his chest, rubbing her back until her breath was steady and even and she started to snore slightly. Booth felt lucky that this woman wanted to be in his bed, in his arms but he also felt like he had dodged a bullet when she fell asleep.

How was he going to tell her, the woman he had spent years convincing that love was good and right that he wasn't sure that he was able to love her – regardless of how much he wanted to? There was something forcing him to keep her at a distance and he knew that it wasn't Gwen - she would have wanted him to be happy in the grand scheme of things. Booth knew as he slipped out of the bed exactly what was keeping him from giving himself to Brennan. It was the same thing that had kept him away for 3 years and silent about his true feelings for her during the early years of their partnership. Seeley Booth felt unworthy of a woman like Temperance Brennan – she was too smart, too…she was too everything for him.


	33. Chapter 33

Will you walk with me out on the wire  
`cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider  
But I gotta find out how it feels  
I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know if love is real."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Born to Run_

Brennan woke up as the sun was coming up to find herself alone in the bed, alone with Baba – not exactly the male she remembered falling asleep next to. As she got up and dressed, she realized that she wasn't just alone in the bed, she was alone in the house as well. Booth had allowed her to fall asleep and then took off. This revelation left Brennan feeling like a fool – she thought she had been doing and saying all the right things. She had been open and flirtatious and understanding and loving and he still ran. He didn't just run, he left her alone and naked in his bed.

As she was gathering up the last of her things, she heard the front door open. Booth came in wearing the same clothes as the night before looking weary but happy.

"Bones, I'm sorry I…"

"It's ok Booth, I didn't come here last night for that." She gestured toward the bedroom, "It's ok, really." She couldn't look at him and lie but she thought he deserved what he once called 'the kindness of a lie' at this moment. "I understand why you took off."

"I didn't mean to run, I just wanted to clear my head and I went for a drive and I realized while I was gone that I'm done running – at least from you."

"I know this isn't what you want and your Catholic background leaves you racked with guilt over uncommitted sex so, it's ok."

He grabbed her small hands in his and pulled her over to the couch, "But that's the thing, this is what I want. I just don't know…I want to be ready for it, for you and I don't think I am…but I want to be…"

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, "What can I do?"

"What do you mean?"

"This is us – we make things easier for each other so…what can I do?" She asked as logically and evenly as she could.

He smiled at her and leaned back into the couch, "I don't think this is one of those things. You've already made it easy on me by welcoming me back and not judging my reasons for leaving in the first place. The rest is up to me."

She nodded gently, understanding his need to do things his way. "Ok, I do have to get going, I have a meeting with the new Deputy Director at the Jeffersonian at 9am and I do not want to be late – especially if he's in one of his serious power suits."

"Those suits really bother you – don't they?"

She stood and stretched, "They're nice suits and you look very good in them but they aren't entirely you, now are they?"

"I don't know. I feel like I need to put on a costume for this new job." He stood and followed her to the door, "I'd like to take you out, on a date. When are you free?"

"Booth, we've already had sex, you don't need to formally ask me out."

"Yes, I do. Temperance, I do." He was unwavering on this point. "If you want me, you have to let me take you out on a proper date. I think I remember you saying something about wanting me –all of me."

She covered her face with her hands, "I still can't believe I said that. Sex messes with the dopamine in the brain and makes people say things that…" she was rambling, she was nervous.

"Did you mean it?" He leaned in toward her, making his presence known.

She bit her lip and looked up at him and kissed him on the cheek, "Yes, I meant it. I did." Before he could say anything she slipped out the door and was gone.


	34. Chapter 34

"But the promises we make at night, oh that's all they are  
Unless we fill them with faith and love they're empty as the howlin' wind  
And honey I just wanna be back in your arms  
Back in your arms again."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Back in Your Arms_

Later that morning, Booth arrived at the lab to meet with the Jeffersonian team and Sarah. He was surprised to find Brennan on the platform alone while the rest of her co-workers were up in the lounge looking down.

"What, are you the only one working today?" He asked as he bounded up the steps of the platform and positioned himself between Brennan and the eye line of the rest of the group.

"No, I just…wanted to work…they're catching up with Cam." She looked up at the lounge.

He squinted at her, "What's really wrong?"

She glanced at him like he should know exactly what she was thinking, "I just have a lot on my mind and working keeps me focused on what I need to accomplish."

He leaned forward, "I get it Bones, I do…By the way if you ever hear me complaining about squints again say the words _forensic accountants_ to me. They make you guys look like the coolest people to ever live – no offense."

She smiled, "None taken…nice suit."

He puffed out his chest and grinned, "It's my power-you-need-to-take-me-very-very-seriously suit." He winked at her and couldn't believe that he was openly flirting with her in the lab – it felt normal, like second nature - had it always been this way?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Ok, what is going on down there?" Angela asked Sweets as they watched Booth and Brennan from up above.

Sweets shook his head, "I don't know and honestly I've given up trying to guess. I'm not their therapist anymore and" He paused, slightly agitated, "Angela, the twisted, odd, bizarro relationship those two have while fascinating, isn't exactly one of my priorities at this moment."

"Whew, didn't ask for all that Sweets. I just thought maybe you knew…"

Sweets hung his head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you but I'm going to be a father in less than 3 weeks and I'm a little on edge."

Angela turned to Sarah, who was also looking down at her boss and partner, "What's your read on this McCready?"

"I have no idea. Why is he standing like that?"

Angela leaned farther down to get a better look, "Like what?"

"What or who is he protecting her from? The way he's standing between her and us? That's a defensive, protective stance. Sweets, you got anything on that?"

The doctor groaned, "He's protective of her – this is not new information. Can we get this meeting started, please?" He looked over to Cam, "I have a nursery to paint and a very nervous wife at home who has started smoking again and thinks she can hide her chain-smoking from me. I'd like to hear your announcement and get out of here."

Cam cleared her throat, "Dr. Sweets, I understand that you are going through a very stressful time but you do not dictate the schedule in my lab. We'll start the meeting when everyone is here." Cam stood, taking an authoritative stance.

Sweets looked down at Booth and Brennan who appeared to be locked in a staring contest and yelled down to them, "Hey, Wonder Twins?" The former partners both spun around to face Sweets, "Can we get this thing started? Please?"

Booth looked up and raised his arms, "Where's the fire Sweetness? What's your hurry?"

"I have a life!" Sweets yelled down, only half-joking.

Booth leaned over and whispered to Brennan, "Apparently our little boy has gotten himself a life – guess we better scadaddle…"


	35. Chapter 35

"Let the frozen cities crumble, crumble and fall  
That's alright, I don't mind at all  
Let 'em all tumble right into the sea  
Well that's just fine, that's alright with me  
Since you came down the line  
I can't sleep at night, I got one thing on my mind  
That's every day, every night  
I wanna be with you."

- Bruce Springsteen, _I Wanna Be With You_

"What's the big announcement, Cam?" Hodgins asked once everyone finally made their way to the conference table in the lounge area.

"I wanted to make sure that all of you were the first to hear that…I will not be renewing my contract with the Jeffersonian when it expires in August." She paused noticing the look of shock on her co-workers' faces.

Angela spoke first, "Why? I thought you were happy here?"

"I have been very happy here but…I'm moving to Seattle in the fall."

"To be with that basketball player?" Brennan asked.

"Baseball, but yes. Taking this last vacation I realized that my whole adult life has been about my career and maybe it's time for something else."

"What else?" Brennan huffed.

"There's an entire world out there and I want to experience it before I'm too old to enjoy it."

"Good for you, Cam. Are you gonna get married?" Angela asked.

"I don't think so, I just know that I want to be with him and right now there's too much space between us."

"Will you continue to work?" Sarah asked, "I'm sure the FBI office out there could use you."

Cam smiled, "I thought about that – I think I'm going to take some time off but that is definitely an option I've considered." She looked over at Booth who was staring at the far wall, "Booth, was there something you needed from us?"

He cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah. McCready is going to be taking a few weeks off starting next Monday so while she's gone, I'll be cycling through some agents to help Bones out with cases – don't worry, I'll make sure that none of them are ones you guys have already scared off."

"Actually Booth while she's gone, I will be too. At least for part of the time."

"What? Why am I just hearing about this now?" Booth asked, he was curious on a professional and personal level.

"The movie for _Bones to Ashes_ starts filming next week and I told the producers I would be there for the start of the production."

"So, my agent and my forensic anthropologist are going to be on the West coast?"

"No." Brennan said simply.

Booth sighed, "You just said you were going to be there for the start of the movie."

"Yes, but they are filming it on the _East _coast. They start in Delaware next week."

Hodgins snorted at Booth's obvious annoyance at Brennan's precision, "See Booth, you've been gone so long you forgot how to ask her questions. You have to be specific."

Booth ignored Hodgins and then glared at Brennan, "Ok fine, I guess I'll have to put in a call and make sure that no bodies are found while you're gone."

"Can you do that?" Brennan asked in surprise.

"Of course not, Dr. Brennan. Booth is having a little bit of a hissy fit, aren't you?" Cam asked.

"No, I just thought that information like this would be shared with me at least a week prior…" He said threw a clenched jaw.

"I never told Cullen when I was taking time off." Brennan stood and headed down the stairs to her office.

Cam watched as Booth stood to follow Brennan, "Seeley, give her a break. She's stressed out. I've been gone for 3 weeks and even I can tell that – can't you."

"Yes, I can Camille." He threw himself back into his seat as Sarah, Hodgins and Angela fled the area. "So, what farm team does this guy you're leaving us for play with?"

"The Seattle Mariners." She said smugly.

"Oh, he's a pro? Good deal." Booth thought for a moment and then said, "Camille, I'll be sad to see you go but we all have to do what we have to do – when it feels right."

Cam looked at Booth sympathetically, she knew that no one more than him understood making big life changes, "Thank you, Seeley. I hate that I've decided to leave now that your back but I will say that knowing your back where you belong made this decision easier. You can help Dr. Brennan steer this ship when I turn it over to her."

"Bones will get your job?"

"I'm sure it's hers if she wants it. I assumed she would."

Booth laughed, "You assume that?"

"You don't? I know you've been gone but you think she doesn't want it?"

Booth's gaze fell to the lab floor below, where Brennan was examining remains on the platform, "I have no idea what that woman wants."


	36. Chapter 36

"Certain things are set in stone  
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Long Walk Home_

As Sweets watched Brennan storm onto the platform he wished that he had more time to stay and observe her and Booth together. The dynamic had changed between them and for Sweets, even though they were no longer partners and his relationship with both of them had become more personal, he still had a tendency to view them as test subjects. They had been his first after all and Sweets knew that he would never forget his first.

He met up with Booth on the first floor, "Are you still able to come and help us out this weekend?"

Booth nodded, "Yes, Finn called me last night to remind me that my expertise was needed…I'll never understand how two people with three doctorates between them put a crib together backwards."

Sweets shrugged, "I'll admit that the crib incident was not one of my finer moments but if you have the time we could use your help getting the house ready."

"When do you pick him up?" Booth was excited for Swinn, he was working hard to get past his own jealousy for the young doctors' new life.

"Two weeks, we have to fly up to Canada and meet the adoption liaison to pick him up. It's all happening much sooner than I ever thought it would. I don't know if we're ready." Sweets said with a touch of fear in his voice.

Booth picked up on Sweets' tension and reassured him, "It's going to be fine, really. You're ready and even if you think you aren't, the minute you pick him up the for the first time…you won't even have a minute to think about not being ready – it'll be all about him."

"Thanks…"

"Hey, that's what I'm here for – to guide my Sweet-ness as he becomes a man." Booth said with a smirk.

"Yeah, about the nicknames, I'm going to be someone's father soon and I'd appreciate it if –"

"I will only call you by your pet names when your son is out of earshot, ok?"

"I would say that no, that's not ok but I don't have a choice, do I?"

With a smirk Booth patted Sweets on the back, "I'm glad that after all these years you've finally come to that conclusion. It makes _my_ life so much easier."

"Are you headed back over to the office?"

"In a little bit, I have to talk to Bones about a few things." When Booth saw the slight smile on Sweets face he wondered if Finn ended up telling her husband about his barnyard liaison with Brennan, "About work – I have to talk to her about work. What is with the dopey little grin?"

Sweets threw his hands up in defense, "Nothing. It's just nice to see you two…here…arguing…I missed it while you were in Richmond, even though it annoyed the hell out of me before you left."

"You do know that I don't choose to argue with her, right?"

"Yes you do."

"No, I don't." Booth placed his hands on his hips and took an authoritative stance.

Sweets mimicked Booth's body language, "Yes, you do. If you didn't, you wouldn't say things that you know set her off. You choose to argue with her so you can win."

"What?"

"At the end of the day, when you both have yelled and given your opinions and basis for your side of the argument, who usually ends up conceding?"

Booth thought for a minute, "Well, if it's not about bones or science usually her."

Sweets poked Booth in the chest, "Exactly, she may have the intelligence to out smart you but you have…you have something that I haven't been able to name from a clinical standpoint that opens her mind. And I think you secretly know it and love it."

"First of all, do not poke me – ever. Secondly, Bones and I…we…ok, I'll admit it. I love it when she gives in. When she can't reason her way out of something. When she has to use something other than her genius IQ to work out a problem is quite possibly one of the most invigorating things I can experience – happy?"

"You are so screwed up – the both of you. Unfortunately, you are no longer my professional problem…I've got to get going, see you Saturday?"

"Yeah, I'll be there all screwed up." Booth grumbled.

As Sweets started to walk away he turned and walked back over to Booth, "I've been meaning to ask you if…if – have you been to the cemetery recently?"

"Why?"

"I stopped by this morning on my way to work and there was –"

"Yeah, I went by last night."

"First time?" Sweets had a hunch that Booth never visited but wasn't completely sure.

Booth just nodded.

"Good…I'm out of the office today but give me a call if-"

Booth cut him off, he didn't need to hear Sweets offer to chat with him about Gwen, "I know where to find you….Thanks."

Booth stood like stone as he watched Sweets exit the lab. He wasn't sure if approaching Brennan now was the best idea but he had meetings the rest of the day and he knew the longer she was left to stew in their minor squabble the more likely she was to blow it out of proportion. He looked over at her and realized that she had been watching him the entire time, "Hey Bones, you got a minute?"


	37. Chapter 37

"Sometimes I spot you standing 'cross the room  
My brain takes a vacation just to give my heart more room  
For one kiss, darling I swear everything I would give  
Cause you're a walking, talking reason to live."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Crush On You_

Booth followed Brennan into her office, "Why didn't you tell me before that you were going out of town?" He asked in the voice she had noticed he only used when they were alone. It was quieter and less confident than his normal tone.

"It's been an odd few weeks for us and my work obligations didn't really come up until now." She sat down on her couch.

"But still…How long?"

"A week maybe a little longer, they want me there to verify that they are being scientifically accurate."

Booth took a seat next to her, "Scientifically accurate? Then they got the right woman."

"I _did_ write the book, Booth." Brennan said defensively.

"I know, I was agreeing that you being there is the right thing."

"Oh…I'm sorry I didn't mention it but I honestly had forgotten about it with everything else."

"Everything else…" Booth echoed her words quietly and then looked at her, "When do you leave?"

"Saturday."

"I have Parker tonight but can we have dinner Friday night?"

Brennan looked at him apologetically, "I'm giving a lecture at Georgetown Friday night."

"So, I guess we'll have to have that date when you get back?"

"Looks like it, I'm sorry." She said with a furrowed brow.

"No, don't be sorry. We're adults, we have obligations. I'm not going anywhere – I'll be here when you get back." He smiled at the relief his statement brought to her face.

"I have two non-work related questions to ask you, do you want me to ask them now or would you prefer to wait until we're not at work?"

He laughed at her question, "Ask me now – you never cared before."

"Before…before things were different. You're my partner's boss, you hold a position of authority and I want to respect that."

Booth shook his head, "Just ask me, Bones."

"Ok…" She stood to face him and took a deep breath, "Why didn't you tell me that Rebecca was getting married?"

"Uh…I-I don't know. I think I'm still trying to process it. Figure out what it means – Parker will have full-time father now and I wonder where that leaves me."

"He'll have a s_tep-father_, you are Parker's father and nothing will ever change that. He idolizes you. I don't think a son could love his father more."

"Really? Where's that coming from?"

"Rebecca brought Parker by here yesterday to see Hodgins' new African bullfrogs, that's how I know about the wedding, All Parker did was talk about you. You're very lucky, Booth."

Booth grinned, "Thanks Bones, I needed to hear that from someone other than Becca…What's the other question?"

"I wasn't eavesdropping but you know how sound carries in the lab and…I heard you tell Sweets that you went to Gwen's grave last night and I was wondering why you didn't tell me that when you came back to your house this morning…"

Booth stood to look her in the eye, "Because that wasn't the important part. I wanted to tell you what I figured out while I was there first – that I was done running. If you hadn't slinked out of the door so fast I would have told you the rest."

Brennan took two steps back and sighed, "I can accept that."

"But you can't accept standing within inches of me?" He asked with one eyebrow arched.

She smiled and crossed her arms, "Not in my office. The physical proximity is very…" She tilted he head and looked at him with guilt in her eyes, "It can be very distracting."

He stepped toward her and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Ok, I'm going to go and in doing so I'll be removing the distractions from your office."

She grinned as she turned to sit back down at her desk, "But not from my head." She mumbled under her breath.


	38. Chapter 38

"I got God on my side  
I'm just trying to survive  
What if what you do to survive  
Kills the things you love  
Fear's a powerful thing  
It can turn your heart black you can trust  
It'll take your God filled soul  
And fill it with devils and dust."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Devils & Dust  
_

"Seels you seem distracted tonight, what gives?" Finn asked as Booth was putting the final touches on the crib – that was now properly put together.

He looked around to make sure Sweets was out of earshot, "I just have _things_ on my mind."

"Oh, if there is somewhere else you'd rather be, I think Lance and I can finish up here."

"Nope, that's the problem. There's nowhere else for me to be." He said as he dropped a screwdriver into the toolbox.

"Why?" Finn took a step closer to him so he could hear her quieter tone.

"Bones left this morning for the movie shoot. A trip I had to find out about in front of everyone at the Jeffersonian. She didn't even tell me in private and we've had some pretty private moments lately."

"You know Temperance, I'm sure she didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"Yeah, but she told me in a room full of people within hours of telling me that she loved me." He responded in a hushed tone. "

"Wait a minute, back up…She told you that she loved you? Why am I just hearing about this now?"

Booth shrugged, "Because after I came to your office that morning and told you about what had happened between us she told me that she had decided to keep things private – she hasn't told anyone. I felt guilty for telling you so I thought I would try and keep things to myself but I can't…I really can't. After she told me that she loved me I left her alone in my bed – me…I don't do that. I _am_ not that guy."

"Where did you go?"

"For a ride than…I went to Gwen's grave and sat there for awhile and then I realized that Gwen did what she did for the same reason I left DC."

"Why was that?" Finn suspected she knew the answer to the question but she wondered if Booth had come to the same one.

"She thought that everyone was better off without her. That she was too much of a burden and that the people she cared about would have a happier life if she was out of the picture…And she was wrong and if she was wrong than-"

"Maybe you were too?"

"Exactly, it's an awful conclusion to come to and I decided that I want to be happy and I don't want to be a shadow in anyone's life especially Bones'."

Finn smiled, "Do you love _her_?"

Before Booth had a chance to answer, Sweets entered the room, "Ok, all of the light sockets are covered and the toilets are locked down. What's next?" When he noticed that he had obviously walked in on a conversation that he wasn't meant to be a part of he asked, "What's going on?"

"Seeley and I were just discussing how interesting and slightly difficult this new transition of his has been."

"Exactly, it's going to be very interesting but there's so much for me to be worried about. I wonder how it'll all end up working out."

Sweets sighed, "It's going to work out just fine. You are totally prepared for this – this job was practically created for you and you know it. Have some faith."

Finn curiously eyed her husband, "Since when do you have faith in anything?"

"I have faith in people, people I know that have proven themselves to me. Not in some unknown all-powerful being that I can't see and have no evidence really exists." Sweets defended.

"Do they teach you guys that at genius school or what?" Booth asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Bones runs on about that all the time. She thinks God is as fictional as Superman. She says she can only have faith in things she can see. She has never understood my faith. Always questioning it every step of the way. Why can't either of you just accept that there may be a God – what does it hurt?"

"Look, I have no problem with you believing in God but I just can't. I'm glad you still do – it says a lot about the person you are. Your faith has been tested and you still believe - that's amazing.

"But you think I'm less-than because I believe?" Booth countered.

Finn spoke up, "It's their way of reasoning what they can't wrap their huge brains around. Seeley, you and I - we go on feelings. We are led by our hearts."

"Yeah, we can all see the great places my heart has led me to." Booth grumbled.


	39. Chapter 39

"When you need me call my name  
'Cause without you my life just isn't the same  
'Cause when this world kicked me around  
You picked me up off the ground."

- Bruce Springsteen, _When You Need Me_

The following Monday, Booth stopped by the Jeffersonian to pick up some reports from Cam on his way home for the day when Angela came running out of her office.

"Booth!" She yelled across the lab.

"What's up, Ange?"

"You know that Bren is gone, right?" Without waiting for him to respond she continued, "Anyway, her phone is forwarded to mine while she's out of town and she just got a call from University Hospital and I tried to reach her on her cell but there was no answer, she must be out of cell range or has it turned off because it keeps going to voicemail and I don't know how to get a hold of her or what to do." She had been speaking so fast she was nearly out of breath when she finished.

Calmly, Booth placed either hand on her shoulders, "Angela, why did the hospital call Bones?"

"Oh, Max had a heart attack. They said it was minor and he should be ok. But I can't reach Brennan and Russ is in North Carolina. I don't know what to do…" She was pleading with him with her eyes to tell her what the right thing to do was.

He thought for a minute, "I'll take care of it." He started to walk away.

"What do you mean you'll take care of it, how?"

Booth turned, "I just will. Do me a favor – stop trying to call her, ok?"

A confused Angela nodded in agreement and watched him hustle out of the lab, with purpose in every step. She turned to Hodgins, "What was that?"

Hodgins shrugged, "The big guy is going to take care of things. Like he always does or at least the way he use to."

"How? She's in a different state and nothing he does is going to make her cell magically start working."

"Maybe he's going to get her. That wouldn't be unheard of."

Angela shook her head, "No, that's _old_ Booth. He did that kind of stuff when they were partners but now? I can't see him doing that."

Hodgins grinned, "I totally can, baby. People may change but…their fundamentals don't. Taking care of Brennan is just in Booth's nature, you know?"

Booth got out to the parking structure and realized that he wasn't sure how he was going to take of things like he had told Angela he would. He picked up his cell and after making a few calls he had the film's shooting location but no one was able to tell him where Brennan was staying. As he started the car he assumed the best thing to do was head to the set and hope to find her there.

It didn't occur to him until he'd been driving for nearly an hour that maybe this wasn't his position anymore. Previously, he had been the one to always to break bad news to her and to be there to help her up but now…now was he even qualified to do that? Before he was her partner and it had been his job to make sure she was taken care of. He brushed the question out of his mind by reminding himself that just because they weren't partners anymore didn't mean she didn't need him to back her up, she just needed a different kind of back up from him now.


	40. Chapter 40

"The road is dark  
and it's a thin, thin line  
But I want you to know I'll walk it for you any time  
Maybe your other boyfriends  
couldn't pass the test  
Well if you're rough and ready for love  
honey I'm tougher than the rest."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Tougher than the Rest_

It was pouring down rain on the set of _Bones to Ashes_ and Brennan was miserable sitting in a tent on the beach waiting for a break in the weather so the director, Stephen Vernon, could get the night shot he'd been setting up for all day. They had been out there since early morning and it appeared that while Brennan was needed for accuracy, the director wasn't thrilled about having her on set.

On top of everything else, there was no cell reception on location and Brennan had been unable to call the Jeffersonian or get any of her messages. She felt completely isolated from everything she needed and wanted. She needed to check in with the lab and she wanted to talk to Booth – neither was going to happen while she was stuck on location.

She sighed to herself as she stood and stretched, when she turned to stretch out her back she was surprised to see a familiar silhouette headed toward her. She took a few steps forward to make sure that her mind wasn't playing a cruel trick on her but it wasn't –it was the middle of the night, pouring down rain and somehow Booth had managed to find her on an inlet in Delaware just when she had been thinking about him, missing him.

She walked over to him with a smile plastered on her face but noticed that his expression was much more serious.

"What are you doing here?"

He placed a hand on her arm and guided her back under the tent, out of the rain. "Your Dad had a heart attack – a minor heart attack and there was no way to get a hold of you so…"

"So, you decided to drive an hour and a half?"

"I didn't know what else to do." He shoved his hands in his pockets, sensing that he had made the wrong decision – it wasn't his place to come here. Before he had the chance to apologize, Brennan had thrown herself into his arms. She was clinging to him like her life depended on it.

"Thank you…for coming." She looked at him with tears in her eyes, "Is he going to be ok? Is he alone? Who's with him?"

"They are pretty sure he's going to be fine, he was smart enough to call an ambulance as soon as he started feeling any pain and right now Finn is sitting with him."

"I need to call Russ – he needs to know."

Booth wiped a tear off of her cheek, "I already called Russ and he's on his way to DC."

"Wh-what do I need to do then?"

"You just need to come with me."

She nodded, "Ok, I-I um. Just need to…I don't even know who I'm supposed to tell that I'm leaving." She looked around the tent and finally saw Stephen, "Um, Stephen I have a family emergency and I need to go back to DC. I'm available by cell and I'm sure I can make it back in a few days if…if you decide that you need me."

The director barely looked in her direction and mumbled, "Ok."

Booth offered the man his killer glare and immediately Stephen stood up straight and walked over to Brennan, "Of course take your time. I hope everything is ok at home and we'll try not to disturb you. Call if we can help in any way."

Booth shook the director's hand "See, that's how you talk to a lady. Got it buddy?"

Brennan rolled her eyes, "Booth, let's go."

"Do you need to go back to your hotel?"

"I do, it's not far from here."

As they walked to the car, Booth noticed that she had on his green Army jacket. He smiled and put his arm around her shoulder. "Is that coat keeping you dry?"

She looked over at him, "And warm, it's very warm."


	41. Chapter 41

"Now if you're lookin' for a hero  
Someone to save the day  
Well darlin' my feet  
They're made of clay  
But I've got something in my soul  
And I wanna give it up  
But gettin' up the nerve  
Gettin' up the nerve  
Gettin' up the nerve is a man's man's job."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Man's Job_

Once they had settled in the car and started back to the city, Booth noticed that Brennan had curled up in the passenger seat and had very little to say.

"Are you cold?" He asked.

"No, I'm fine…I just…My father's in the hospital, I've been sitting on the beach for 14 hours waiting for a shot that never happened and all I can think about is how nice it was to see your face. That you came…why did you come? Why not just call me?"

"You're cell wasn't working and…and you shouldn't get that kind of news over the phone." He said quietly. "Driving an hour and half was not that big of a deal."

"It was, it is. I know I complained all the time before about your over-bearing tendencies but it is nice to see them back in full-force."

"Yeah, I knew that deep down you loved them."

"I _appreciated_ them…You were the first person that ever…" She stopped herself, trying to keep herself from crying.

He reached over and pulled her close to him in the bench seat of the Camaro, "I know, Bones."

"Who can I call to check on him?"

"When I left Finn was with him, she has a weird crush on your father by the way, but I asked Cam to stop by and try to get a hold of his records so she could explain exactly what was going on. She said she'd call me once she had all the info."

"So, we should wait to call?" There was a big part of Brennan that found this comforting, she was warm and safe in the car with Booth, she didn't need any news good or bad invading this space.

"I think we should wait, Cam will call. And if anything has changed with him Finny would have called me by now. When I was there he was awake and watching TV – Bones I think he's going to be just fine."

"Thank you…for everything. Coming to get me, sending Finn and Cam to the hospital, calling Russ, stopping in yourself – you didn't have to do all that."

"Yes I did. It's my job – has been…forever. I've just been off duty for the past few years but I'm back."

Brennan let out a sweet sigh, "Do you mind if I close my eyes for a few minutes?"

"Of course not." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her head to his shoulder, "I'll wake you up when Cam calls, ok?"

She nodded into his shoulder and he soon felt her body go limp next his, a tell-tale sign that she was falling asleep.

As he listened to her breathing in her sleep he wondered why coming to get her and comforting her had been so easy. Why did it feel like the only thing he should be doing at this moment in time? Maybe he was in love with her, maybe he had always been.


	42. Chapter 42

"And I know you're lonely  
For words that I ain't spoken  
But tonight we'll be free  
All the promises'll be broken"

-Bruce Springsteen, _Thunder Road__  
_

Booth had just gotten off of the phone with Cam when Brennan started to stir.

"Was that Cam?" She asked still half asleep.

"It was…Your Dad is going to be fine. Cam said that he's already sitting up, complaining about wanting to go home and flirting with the nurses." Booth said with a grin.

Brennan let out a sigh of relief, "I suppose that's the best news I could get right now." She straightened up and slowly scooted over to the passenger side of the seat.

"We should be at the hospital in about 20 minutes."

Brennan nodded and then yawned.

"Bones, I don't think I've ever seen you look so tired." He said stealing a quick glance at her.

"It's been a long a day and I haven't been sleeping well so…" She trailed off, not wanting to go into further detail.

"I'm not sleeping well either – if that makes you feel any better."

Brennan looked at him and smiled, "It does actually…thanks."

Booth rubbed his hand across his chin, deep in thought, "You know Bones, you are the first woman I've been with in over 3 years…and I have to admit that simple fact excites me and scares me at the same time."

"I-I don't understand."

He sighed deeply, "There was a time, _before_ Gwen that I will admit that I had feelings for you – feelings that I suppressed because we were partners and there was a line and then I met Gwen and…but now that I'm back and you're here I can have what I wanted so long ago and that's scary. Ever heard the phrase, 'Be careful what you wish for'?"

Brennan was struck silent by his honesty. She was replaying his words over in her mind when he started to speak again.

"I use to tell myself that if you and I met under different circumstances or we didn't have the jobs that we did that things would have worked for us but now we're under different circumstances and we have different jobs so does that mean that things could work? And what if they don't? I'll be honest with you – I would have stayed in Richmond forever if you hadn't asked me to Come Home."

"You were waiting for me to ask you?" Brennan asked in disbelief.

"Yeah…I wish I could say that the promise of a great new job and seeing Parker on a regular basis swayed me but…it wasn't until you asked that I made up my mind."

"I'm glad that I could help you make such an important decision." She said with a smirk.

Suddenly Booth pulled the car over to the shoulder and turned to face Brennan, "Bones, I have to ask you something. And I need for you to be completely honest with me, ok?"

"Ok."

"You've always said that you could only have faith or believe in things that you could see, right?"

Brennan nodded, "That's correct."

"Did you lose faith in me while I was gone?"

She leaned into him and whispered, "No. Never. Not once."

Booth smiled gently, "Thank you…I needed to know that."

"Why?"

"Because…because, ok?" He placed his hands on either side of her face and enveloped her lips with his own, he pulled back and looked at her, "Because I want to be able to do that, I want to be able to make love to you and know that you're really in love with me and that _this_ isn't just because you missed me…"

Brennan returned his kiss and then said, "I did miss you…but I didn't realize that I loved you until you came back for Thanksgiving and you kept following me all over Sweets' house. I had forgotten…us."

"Me too."


	43. Chapter 43

"Well now the years have gone and I've grown  
From that seed you've sown  
But I didn't think there'd be so many steps  
I'd have to learn on my own."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Walk Like A Man_

When Booth and Brennan finally arrived at the hospital, they found Finn asleep in the chair next to Max's bed and Max wide-awake watching infomercials on TV.

Brennan rushed over to Max and gave him a fiercely-delicate hug while Booth tried to wake Finn up. Brennan couldn't believe how small he looked in that bed – the man who had always been larger-than-life in her mind.

"Are you alright?" Brennan asked her father, "How do you feel? Are they treating you ok?"

Max grinned, "I'm fine, it was a _minor_ heart attack and I have to say that I feel better than you look – when was the last time you slept?"

Brennan ran her hand through her hair and realized that she probably did look awful she had been sitting out in the rain for hours before Booth came to get her and as for sleep – she had been lucky to get more than an hour or two a night for the past week. "This isn't about me…You're sure you feel ok?"

"Sweetheart, I'm fine. We're made of tough stuff you and I. _And_ this is about you – who do you think is going to be taking care of me when they finally release me?

Finn was finally awake, "Temperance, really he's fine. They want to keep him another day or so for observation but other than that some new medication and a new diet and he'll be back to his old self in no time." She looked up at Booth, "Have you seen Lance? He went to get me some coffee but I suspect he got lost – come help me find him?" She was hinting with her eyes that maybe Brennan needed a few minutes alone with her father.

"Yeah, ok…Let's go find Sweetness." He looked over at Brennan, "Bones, I'll be right back, you need anything?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm good."

After Finn and Booth had left Max gestured for Brennan to take a seat on the bed next to him, "So, how'd he find you?"

"Booth? I'm not sure…He just has a knack for it…"

"And he doesn't love you, does he?" Max asked with his eyes twinkling.

"Dad, that's what Booth does. He sees a situation that needs to be taken care of and he takes care of it."

"Right…I think that you need to stop and think about what it took for him to get in that car and drive nearly 2 hours to find you and then ask yourself if he was merely taking care of a situation or taking care of you?"

Brennan rolled her eyes, "You just had a heart attack – stop worrying about me and my non-existing love life. Get some rest, you need it."

"Looks like you do to."

Finn arrived back at the room, "We found him – he had run into an old colleague and they were catching up. He headed down to the parking structure to warm the car up."

"Where's Booth?" Brennan asked, realizing she sounded more concerned than he had wanted to.

"He's in the hall, he had to make a call to his babysitter, I mean dog walker." Finn grinned, "I guess in Seeley's eyes they are the same thing."

Booth entered the room and was surprised to see that all eyes were on him as he made his entrance.

"Booth do me a favor, will you?" Max asked.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Take my daughter home, she needs to sleep. There's going to be a cranky old man that she's going to have to take care of here soon and she'll need all the energy she can muster."

"Dad, I'm fine. I want to stay – you shouldn't be alone." Brennan made no effort to remove herself from her father's bedside.

"Russ just called, he'll be here in about 30 minutes and truth be told, I could use a few minutes to myself. You have an amazing group of friends which I am very thankful for but they haven't given me a moment to myself all day." Max looked over at Booth, "Let's go G-man, take her home."

"Bones, Max has a point." He walked over to her and lifted her up under her arms, "See, you're so tired you didn't even fight me when I did that and you always have the energy to fight me."

Brennan knew when she had been out-numbered so she gave in, "Fine, I'll go home but I'll be back first thing in the morning. I want to go over everything with your doctors before they send you home, ok?"

"I wouldn't expect any less." Max grinned as Brennan leaned down to kiss him on the cheek, "I love you."

With eyes slightly moist she whispered, "I love you, too."

Brennan followed Booth and Finn into the hall and asked, "Ready?"

Booth smiled at the exhausted and defeated Brennan, "Only if you are."

Brennan nodded, "Are you coming Sam?" Brennan asked.

"I'll be right behind you. I have to check my voicemail and use the restroom." She walked over and offered them both big hugs, "I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?"

"Thanks for staying with him – it means a lot to me."

Finn smiled and hugged Brennan again, "Hey, as far as I'm concerned we're family and I know that you'd do the same for me so don't even mention it."

"Come on, Bones. I'll take you home." As they started to walk down the hall he asked, "Do you mind if we stop at my place and pick up Baba?"

"No, not at all. We can just stay there – you are closer to the hospital than me."

"Yeah, but you're not going to get a good rest in a strange bed – it's better if you're home."

Brennan shrugged, she could argue with that logic but the truth was she was just too tired to so she followed him down to the car.

Sweets was in the parking garage waiting for Finn when he saw Booth and Brennan get off of the elevator. As he watched Booth and Brennan walking to his car, he saw Booth open the passenger door for Brennan and then what he saw next shocked him.

Before allowing her to collapse in the seat, Booth grabbed Brennan's elbow and pulled her close to him. He placed a delicate kiss on her forehead and the two stood there for a long moment looking at each other before Brennan slipped into the car. A surprised smile crept across Sweets' face when he realized exactly what he was witnessing but as he watched Booth jog around to the other side of the car the smile started to fade. For as hard as he and Finn had been pushing Booth to be happy and move forward, Sweets had never stopped to consider that actually witnessing it happen would hurt him so much. The sudden realization that Booth was possibly moving on only reminded him that Gwen was gone.


	44. Chapter 44

"We swore we'd travel darlin' side by side  
We'd help each other stay in stride  
But each lover's steps fall so differently  
But I'll wait for you  
And if I should fall behind

Wait for me."

Bruce Springsteen, _If I Should Fall Behind_

After Booth and Brennan had pulled away, Finn finally joined Sweets in the car.

"You are never going to believe what I just saw." He said as he turned to face his wife.

"Lance, I love you but there is no such thing as a Chubacabrah – The X-files really skewed your whole view of the world didn't it?"

"Ha, ha very funny. No, I just saw Booth and Brennan leave but before they got in the car he kissed her on the forehead."

"Lance, she's had a rough day. He was probably just trying to comfort her." Finn started to squirm in her seat. She had never told Sweets about the conversations she and Booth had about Brennan.

"No, this was more than him comforting her…this was….it was more, ok?" He sound agitated.

"Lance, isn't this what you have been wanting? Seeley to move on?"

"Yes but…"

"If Gwen were still here he wouldn't have to be moving on, would he?" She asked sympathetically. She sighed, knowing that what she said next was going to be hard for her husband to hear but it was time that he knew, "Lance, if I tell you something you have to promise me to not get angry with me, ok?"

Sweets nodded and turned to face her.

"Things have been…occurring between Temperance and Seeley over the past few weeks."

"Things…what kind of things?" His voice cracked the way it did only when he was overly anxious or annoyed.

Finn decided that being straight-forward and honest with him was the best way to handle this, "They slept together a few weeks ago and Temperance told him that she loved him." She sighed, it felt good to finally get that off of her chest.

"How do you know this?! Did Brennan tell you?"

"Actually, Seeley did…"

"So, now you're having secret chats with Booth behind my back? You do realize that behind those good looks and charm is an extremely screwed up guy, right? What do you have a crush on him now?" Sweets was flustered and just a few leaps away from out of control.

"Calm down…You know that he was seeing a psychiatrist in Richmond and he hasn't started seeing one here – I think he's been using me as kind of a surrogate shrink and I'm ok with that. At least he's talking to someone."

Her words struck him with sadness, "Why not talk to me? I thought he and I had become close…"

"Babe, you two have become close – like brothers. But let's face it most guys don't go running to their little brothers about their sex lives."

"No, but they also normally don't go running to their hot sister-in-laws either."

"True, but he had to talk to someone. I think that normally that person would have been Temperance but since this is about her-"

"He couldn't go to her." Sweets finished her sentence for her. "Does he love her?"

"I think he does and I know you do but he's afraid of what it all means and how it changes everything."

Sweets nodded and shifted the car into drive, "It does change everything but not in a bad way…I just wish that…I wish that he had told me."

Finn reached over and caressed the back of her husband's neck, "I'm sure he will as soon as he figures out exactly what's going on but I have to warn you – it could take him awhile. Be patient, besides we have our own things to be worried about…2 weeks and we're parents, Babe."

This gentle reminder from Finn created a huge smile on Sweets' face – he was going to be someone's father and that was all that mattered right now.


	45. Chapter 45

"Yesterday the people were at ease  
Baby slept in peace  
You closed your eyes and  
You knew who you were."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Your Own Worst Enemy_

Booth and Brennan were headed to her house after stopping briefly at Booth's house to pick up Baba, who fought with Brennan the entire way to her house for the privilege of riding in the front seat.

"Sorry about him, he's not use to anyone else being in the car with us, except Parker and Parker still rides in the backseat." Booth said as he pushed the dog back for at least the 14th time since they had gotten in the car.

"He's fine – this is his domain and he's trying to prove that to me, like any good alpha dog…" Once they pulled up in front of her house she turned to him, "Booth, you really don't need to stay with me tonight. I'll be fine, I just need to get a shower and some sleep and I'm going back to the hospital first thing."

"Well, how are you going to get back to the hospital? You left your car in Delaware."

Brennan had forgotten that she had left in such a hurry she hadn't made plans to have her car brought back to DC, "Uh, I forgot – thanks for remembering."

He arched a brow and grinned at her, "That's what I do." He watched as she walked up the steps to her house and opened the door. After Baba was convinced that he had been there before and there was little need to mark too much of he yard he bounded up the steps behind her into the house. Booth followed them both, carrying her bags.

"I'm going to take a shower – there should be plenty of food and stuff in the fridge, I'm not sure what my Dad left. I'll be right back."

Booth watched Brennan head up the stairs and then laughed at Baba who had taken it upon himself to get comfortable on the couch, Booth took his cue and settled down next to the dog and turned on the TV. The next thing he knew, Brennan was leaning over him trying to wake him up.

"Booth, did you want to get a shower or can I make you some dinner?"

He looked up at her and smiled, "Yes and yes but first come here." He reached out and pulled her down next to him on the couch.

"What are we doing?" She asked suspiciously.

"We're taking a moment to relax and just be." He explained quietly.

Brennan shook her head, "I don't understand what you mean."

"You've had a stressful day, just sit back and relax for a few minutes, ok?" He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You're no good to anyone if you're a ball of nerves and stress."

"That I can agree with." She rested her head on his should and closed her eyes. It was the first time since she bought the house that she quickly and peacefully fell asleep.

Booth looked over at a sleeping Brennan and then looked around her too-big-for-one-person home and at that moment he knew…


	46. Chapter 46

"When the promise is broken you go on living  
But it steals something from down in your soul  
Like when the truth is spoken and it don't make no difference  
Something in your heart goes cold."

-Bruce Springsteen, _The Promise_

At that moment he knew that the instinct he had to go and find Brennan in the middle of the night to tell her about her father wasn't out of loyalty or even friendship it was out of love. He suddenly knew that the life that he had always imagined that he would have had nothing on the life that he could have. There was happiness and contentment in this moment and nothing he had felt in his entire life matched that. He had spent so much time dwelling on what he had lost and the fear that he would never find it again that he had never even considered actively pursuing it. And yet, there was a part of him that had always known that he could find what he needed in Brennan but he had never allowed himself to look for it and now it had found him.

With Baba gently snoring on one side of him and Brennan asleep on the other, Booth could admit to himself and the universe for the first time in a very, very long time that he was a happy man, a lucky man.

As Brennan started to stir his first instinct was to wrap her in his arms and tell her exactly what he was feeling – that he loved her and that the promise of a life with her gave him hope and peace but there was something inside that made him hold back. He had already made one grand gesture in the past 24 hours and he feared that another would scare her.

Yes, he reasoned, she was a different person now – her heart was open but she was still his Bones and too much too soon could send her into sensory overdrive and that's not what she needed right now. Right now, she needed someone to care for her, to make sure that she was safe and happy. He had spent the past 3 years taking care of his own needs and he decided that it was now time to take care of hers - or as much as she would allow him to.

He gently rolled her off of his shoulder and onto the couch arm, covering her with a blanket. He headed to the kitchen to make her dinner, to make sure that she ate something. There was something about caring for her that made him feel whole, maybe all those years of being so fiercely protective of her physically and emotionally had less to do with them being partners than he had realized.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

The next morning, after dropping Brennan off at the hospital, Booth headed to his office and tried to get through the stacks of paperwork on his desk but he couldn't focus. After making Brennan dinner the night before she had fallen back asleep on the couch and he ended up lying there with her, barely sleeping himself. Just keeping watch and thinking about all the possibilities that he knew he could find within her.

Booth stood and stretched, he needed to talk to someone but not just anyone – he needed to talk to his non-blood-related-little brother about his latest revelation.

Booth knocked on the half-open door and then let himself in, "You got a minute, Sweets?"

Sweets looked up from his desk, surprised to see Booth darkening his doorway, "Of course…Is Max ok?"

"He's going to be fine. I dropped Bones off at the hospital this morning and I think they're going to release him tomorrow."

"That's excellent…really." Sweets was replaying the moment of intimacy he had witnessed between Booth and Brennan the previous night and he wondered if he should bring it up or not.

"I need to talk to you about something. I need to sort some stuff and you are the best shrink I know…"

Sweets scoffed, "I thought you preferred my wife?"

Booth grimaced, "Well, she's the best looking shrink I know and she knows less about me and my past than you…so yes, there are times when I would rather talk to her but this is not one of those times."

The young doctor sat up straighter in his chair, feeling slightly more secure at that moment, it made sense that Booth would go to someone who didn't have a filing cabinet full of his background to reference, "What can I help you with?"

"Really, it's more of something that I need to tell you." Booth paused, took a deep breath and continued, "I'm in love with Bones and I think I have been for a very long time…but that doesn't mean that I didn't love Gwen because I did, I truly, truly did…I wanted to marry your sister and she would have been the only woman in my life-"

Sweets cut him off, "Booth, I know. I know that every word you just said is true. I knew the first time I met with you and Dr. Brennan that you cared deeply for her _and _I know that you loved my sister, deeply and she knew it too…I saw you last night leaving the hospital with Brennan, I saw the-the care that you used with her and I knew that…"

Booth looked up at Sweets with a tear in his eye, "I'm sorry…I-I don't know what…"

"What are you sorry for?" Sweets was smart enough to know what Booth meant but he knew how important it was for him to say it himself.

"I'm sorry that I loved Bones before I met Gwen and that Gwen is gone and I couldn't save her and that I came back only to fall back in love with Bones."

Sweets leaned forward, in total therapist mode, "You didn't fall back in love with her – you just finally found the right moment. Before there was always an obstacle between you guys whether real or imagined by one of you but now, now what stands in your way? …How does she feel about you? Has anything happened?" Sweets knew the answers to those questions but he was hoping to get more information from the horse's mouth.

Booth grinned and shook his head, "Nope, I will be open and honest about my feelings but I'm not giving you anything more. Private is private."

"That's admirable." Sweets was slightly miffed that Booth had told Finn everything but he got over it quickly when he realized that Booth had come to him with the most important part of the story, he was admitting that he loved Brennan, "Have you told her how you feel?"

Booth ran his hands across the back of his neck, "Not yet, I just realized it last night and with her father in the hospital, I didn't want to…I need to find the right way to tell her."

"There is no right way, the important thing is that you tell her. Eight years is a very long time between two people especially when those two people are you and Dr. Brennan." Sweets eyed Booth and saw apprehension in his friend's eyes – not something he saw very often. "Normally I would recommend you tell her right away but I understand your hesitation especially if you don't know how she -"

Booth stood, as far as he was concerned their conversation was over, "I know how she feels, trust me…You're right eight years is a long time – I know Bones."

"Yes, you do. No one would ever doubt that…But I've learned a lot about you in the past few years and the one pattern you keep falling into is running when things get hard or uncomfortable."

"And?" Booth was two steps from the doorway, ready to leave.

"Don't do it this time, for me, for Gwen, for Dr. Brennan and mainly for yourself. She makes you happy and that is _not_ a bad thing. Your self-imposed penance needs to be over."_  
_


	47. Chapter 47

"Now some may wanna die young man  
young and gloriously  
Get it straight now mister  
hey buddy that ain't me  
'Cause I got something on my mind  
that sets me straight and walkin' proud  
And I want all the time  
all that heaven will allow."

- Bruce Springsteen, _All That Heaven Will Allow_

Booth called Brennan several times throughout the day to check on Max's condition but ultimately the calls were made to check on her. There was a time when he never could imagine her taking care of her father – willingly. And now, she was a devoted daughter, he was proud of her. He made plans to pick her up around 5pm – Max insisted that she go home and let Russ stay with him overnight. Booth was more than happy to pick her up – he had plans of his own for her that evening.

On their way back to her house for the night, Booth took an unusual way home.

"This is not the way to my house, Booth. Did you need to stop somewhere?"

"Yes, _we_ need to stop somewhere." He said quietly without looking at her.

"I'm not really hungry and I have food at home…"

He smiled, "This isn't about dinner, Bones." He pulled the car over in front of the Washington Monument and hopped out of the car.

When he got over to Brennan's side to let her out she was confused, "Booth you can't park here, you'll get a ticket."

"I think we'll be ok, besides, a ticket would be well worth this." He grabbed her hand and walked closer to the monument.

Still confused, Brennan followed him and as they approached the statue she was flooded by memories.

"Do you remember the night we had to examine that body at the top?"

Brennan nodded slowly, "Yes, I remember it quite well. I was very angry with you when we got here but by the time we were ready to leave…I wasn't anymore and I never knew why…"

Booth looked at her thoughtfully, "Do you remember how cold it was that night and I offered you my coat and you told me that if you wanted it you would have asked me for it?"

She smirked, "Yes."

He sighed, "I think since that night, in one way or another I have been trying to offer you my coat to keep you warm."

"I don't understand."

"Offering you my coat was a way for me to reach out to you, to take care of you and I hadn't realized until last night that-that actually might be my purpose. Not my _life_ purpose but protecting you and keeping you safe makes me feel…it makes me feel complete."

Brennan shook her head, "Booth I…"

He shook his head with a slight smile, "This sounded better in my head, trust me." He sighed and grabbed both of her hands, bringing them close to his heart. "What I mean is that I love you and I have as long as I can remember – all the way back to that night that we were here and I offered you my coat."

"But…what about…" Brennan didn't want to finish that sentence.

"I know what you're thinking…Yes, I loved Gwen, too. Before I decided to Come Home I had a conversation with the therapist I was seeing in Richmond and I realized something…To have a life with Gwen I would have had to end our partnership and that speaks volumes about my true feelings for you – the ones that I had been suppressing for years. I felt guilty when I finally admitted that to myself, like some how Gwen was a consolation prize but she wasn't…she wasn't…. It just wasn't the right time for you and me but now…now is our time and I don't want to waste another minute of it, ok?"

With tears in her eyes she nodded, she understood. "So, you _do_ love me?"

As he wrapped his arms around her, he whispered in her ear, "I think love just scrapes the surface of me and you."


	48. Chapter 48

"Well let there be sunlight, let there be rain  
Let the brokenhearted love again."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Sherry Darling_

When Sweets arrived home that evening he couldn't help but feel a little superior to his wife. Booth may have shared salacious details with her but he had come to Sweets to discuss the fact that he loved Brennan. In Sweets mind, that was 100 times more important.

He found Finn sitting out on the deck going over patient files. He took a seat next to her and let out a very noticeable, satisfied sigh.

Finn looked over at her husband and his goofy grin, "What?"

"Booth came to me today…" He said as casually as possible.

"And?"

"He needed to flesh some issues out and he came to me. He came to _me_." Sweets

gestured to his chest with both thumbs.

Finn smiled, "What issues?"

"Let's just say that…he's made a decision for his future and I think he wanted to apologize to me." Sweets looked out across the yard and thought back to the conversation he had with Booth earlier that day. "He still feels an enormous amount of guilt over Gwen and…" He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

"And he's worried that by realizing he loves Temperance might make you feel like he didn't love Gwen?"

"Wh-what? Did you talk to him today? How do you know that he's in love with Brennan?"

"Lancer, it's obvious." She placed her hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze. "Are you ok with this? Honestly?"

He slowly shook his head, "I am…I mean watching him move on with his life will always remind me that Gwen is gone but at the same time me moving forward reminds me of her as well so I can't fault him for it…And I think of Brennan as family so…Yes, I am ok with this, more than ok."

She leaned over and kissed him on the nose and then rested her forehead on his, "I don't think Seeley would ever let himself off of the hook if you didn't tell it was ok…You are an exceptional man, you know that?"

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Across town Angela was lying on the couch with her head in Hodgins' lap, watching TV, when she turned suddenly and looked up at him, "Do you think Booth and Bren are acting weird?"

Hodgins smirked, "Weird, how?"

"Well, you know…" She swung her legs around and sat up next to him on the couch, "The way he took off to get her when he found out about Max or even before then, the way they just seem to…I don't know, they definitely acting weird."

"If you say so, Angie. You are the expert." Hodgins continued watching TV.

"Jack, I'm serious. I know I use to speculate all the time about them getting together but now…now I don't even know if I know who Booth is and I wonder if Bren does." There was serious concern in her voice.

"She does…I think he's slowly letting her in." Hodgins himself had noticed something different with Booth in the past few weeks, the way he walked into the lab and the upbeat tone in his voice reminded Hodgins of the Booth he knew years before. It reminded him of the way Booth behaved when he first met Gwen – this was an insight he kept to himself, he didn't want to get Angela's hopes up or start any rumors. But he was certain that something was brewing.


	49. Chapter 49

"Well I got a brand new lover  
I love her yes I do,  
She's my one and only and her name is Baby Blue..."

- Bruce Springsteen, _A Night With The Jersey Devil  
_

After leaving the monument, Booth and Brennan rode in silence for the 20 minutes back to her house. Booth laid his hand on the front seat, palm facing up and Brennan instantly rested hers on top. She thought of all those years before, all the hours they had logged riding together for work and other purposes and she thought that if maybe she had made a similar gesture sooner, they would have gotten to this place a long time ago. Booth stole a glance at Brennan and thought to ask her what she was thinking about but he let if go. He had his own thoughts to be lost in. Booth was relieved to finally be able to admit that he loved her and Brennan was content that her offer of love had been received and reciprocated.

As they walked up the stairs to her front door, Booth grabbed her from behind and wrapped his arms around her. He brushed her hair away from her neck and began to nuzzle softly, laying kisses along the side of her neck, and up behind her ear. At the same time, his hand traveled across her bottom and down the back of her thigh. He began to apply an intense pressure on the center of her ear lobe with his teeth that sent shockwaves through her body unlike any she had every felt. He continued this tactic until the hiss he had been waiting for escaped from her lungs, ending in a very breathy, "Booth!"

She turned around to face him, breathless she asked, "What was that? It was…I have never…" She licked her bottom lip and reached up to kiss him.

"Just a little something different. One of my few talents…You of all people should know about pressure points and nerve endings." He grinned, pleased with himself that he had given her pleasure in a way that she had never felt before.

She fumbled with her keys and finally got the front door open she slowly stepped into the house. She was unsteady on her own two feet, still tingling from Booth's display of 'a little something different' on the front porch.

They were greeted enthusiastically by Baba who obviously needed to be let outside and have his dinner. Booth smiled at his faithful companion, "If I let you out, are you going to come right back?"

Brennan was impressed with the way Baba sat and listened intently to Booth's soothing voice. The dog followed him to the kitchen and Booth opened the back door and let him out. "Hey Bones, thanks for letting me keep him here while I'm running you back and forth – it's a lot easier for me."

"I love having him here, it makes this place feel more like a home."

Booth turned to look at her, impressed that she actually felt the difference between a house and a home, he thought to remark on that but feared it would just start a fight so he stepped out onto the back deck to keep an eye on Baba.

Brennan headed into the living room to check her answering machine – she hadn't had a chance to listen to her messages the previous night before falling asleep. When she approached the machine and saw the number 25 blinking, she snuck a quick peak at Booth who was calling Baba up onto the deck and she decided that those 25 messages could wait another night.

She headed into the kitchen and watched Booth give Baba his dinner, making the dog sit and speak before allowing him to eat. When he stood up, Booth saw Brennan looking at him from around the corner and he was reminded that there was unfinished business between them – something he had started on her front porch just a few minutes before. He walked toward her and bent down to whisper in her ear, "Where's your bedroom?"

Brennan gestured with her head that it was back behind them. She had chosen to use the one bedroom on the first floor of the house as her own – it just made more sense in a Brennan-sort-of-way.

Booth reached out for her hand and led her toward her room. Stopping at the threshold, he looked at her in the eyes, "I love you, Temperance."

"I love you, Booth."

"Can't call me Seeley?" he teased.

She shook her head, "Don't want to."

"I am _more_ than ok with that…" He said as he reached for her.

She then found herself moving across the floor with him and onto the bed, a tangle of arms, legs, and mouths. Booth ran his lips along the curve of her neck and the sweet hollow above her collarbone, down across her soft belly. She ran her fingertips along the coiled muscle of his arms, his back and his thighs. As they locked into an embrace, and she felt the pounding of his heart against hers and she was thrilled to see no apprehension on his face and even more so to hear him whisper her name over and over.

She took his fingers and laced them with hers. He propped himself up, positioning himself above her admiring her from this new perspective. She opened her eyes then and found his gaze as their bodies shuddered together. She took her hand and covered her face, trying to catch her breath. Booth noticed her body still trembling and  
he smiled.

With her hand still over her eyes she said, "Now I see the difference between being intimate with someone you love as opposed to…well, all the rest, I guess."

Booth smirked, "Good to know, Bones. I'm glad I was able to shine some light on that for you."

When she finally found the strength to look at him and she saw the grin on his face, she laughed a deep, throaty laugh of contentment. Booth had never seen her eyes such a clear, perfect shade of baby blue. He brushed a strand of hair from her face and traced the line of her jaw with his finger.

He continued to trace the outline of her face and said with a grin, "This was better in a bed but that old barn has it's own charm."


	50. Chapter 50

"You say I'll be like those other guys  
Who filled your head with pretty lies  
And dreams that can never come true  
Well baby you be true to me  
And I'll be true to you."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Be True_

As Booth awoke he reached out for Brennan. Over the course of the night, they had found their own spots in the bed apart from the other. He reveled in his body's reaction to the soft, warm being lying just inches from him. With some effort he opened his eyes, squinting against the harsh morning sunlight that was streaming through the tiny gap in the curtains and directly onto his face. He rolled over to envelope her body with his, spooning her out of protection, out of love. As he pressed his lips and nose against the nape of her neck, he inhaled her scent – it was foreign and familiar all at the same time. He laid as still as he could – letting the sensation of the moment spread through his body and his contentment wash over his conscious mind.

Brennan slowly started to wake and she was startled for a second to feel the weight of a man against her back she then remembered the previous day and night and wriggled her body closer to his, letting him know that she was now awake.

"Good Morning." He said huskily in her ear.

"It's a _very_ good morning." Brennan said while she turned to face him.

He kissed her gently, "What happened with us last night?"

She looked at him a little confused, "What do you mean?"

"To be completely honest, it's rare to sleep with someone, to spend the night with someone and not wake up all tangled up with them."

Brennan grinned, "Is it because you're so physically pleasing that women want to be attached to you permanently?"

He chuckled, "No, I think it's just something people think they're supposed to do…"

"Well, I'm sorry but I need my private sleep space." Brennan said with apologetically.

He took her earlobe in between his fingers and stroked it, "As do I…I think that we're too independent and have spent too much time on our own to feel the need to cling to another person."

Brennan nodded unsure if that was a good thing or not. "Right, sharing a bed is…"

He heard uncertainty in her voice and he knew that he needed to fix that, "Bones, it's a good thing – we're secure enough with each other to let a few inches get between us."

"I hadn't look at it that way…you're right." She pulled back from him slightly to admire his bare chest. She reached out and fingered the chain that he wore around his neck and then took the St. Christopher medal in her hand, "It's comforting on many levels to see you wearing this."

Booth arched a brow, "My St. Christopher medal comforts you? What have you changed your mind about God?"

"No, that hasn't changed but you wearing that shows that you haven't changed either. You're still…"

"What? I'm still what?"

"You're still Booth. That there's still a part of you who is that cocky young man under the bleachers with that girl and there's still that young soldier and caring father in there too….that everything you have been through hasn't stripped you of who you are fundamentally."

"Thanks..."

She continued, "You've kept your faith and while I don't agree with it and anthropologically speaking putting that faith in an inanimate object has never proven to help anyone, I like seeing it on you."

He smiled she was still his Bones, a non-believer who could cut anything down anthropologically. He sighed, "Yeah, I've been wearing it for so long, I forget about it sometimes."

"He is the patron saint of bachelors? Right?"

"Bachelors and travelers, truth is I never thought I'd be wearing it this long."

Brennan knew exactly what he meant without any further explanation. She leaned toward him and kissed him deeply and then said quietly, "Maybe your journey is almost over."


	51. Chapter 51

"I know we're different you and me  
Got a different way of walkin'  
The time has come to let the past be history  
Yeah if we could just start talkin'  
Don't know when this chance might come again  
Good things got a way of comin' to an end."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Let's Be Friends_

After Booth left for work, Brennan started getting the house ready for Russ to bring her father home later that day. She decided that it would be easier if Max used her room while he was recuperating so, she set out to de- Booth the room – her father would pick up on even the slightest trace so she went over the room twice. Under the bed she found Booth's white dress shirt. Brennan felt foolish as she brought the shirt to her face and inhaled his scent but she couldn't help herself, he had only been gone for an hour but she already missed Booth. She took the shirt upstairs to the room she would be staying in and tucked it away out of sight.

Russ brought Max home shortly after lunch, to look at her father you would never have known he had had a heart attack. With the exception of being a little pale he looked just fine and he kept reminding everyone that it was a 'minor heart attack'.

"I don't care how minor it was, you need to rest and stay on the diet the doctor started you on." Brennan said with every ounce of authority she had in her.

"Dad, Tempe's right. You need to take better care of yourself." Russ said as he took a seat at the kitchen table across from his sister and father.

"Ok, I'll eat all the fiber and vegetables I can get my hands on. Lord knows there's never any meat in this house anyway." He shot Brennan a playful glance.

"Becoming a vegetarian would be an excellent way for you to become healthier…"

"Tofu and sprouts – no thanks. I'll stick to the diet my doctor started me on." Max grinned at his daughter and then something by the back door caught his eye. It was a dog bowl. Seeing that, he knew that not only had Booth brought her home that night that Max had asked him to but he had been staying there with her as well. Realizing this only reaffirmed Max's belief that Booth was the right man for his daughter. He chuckled to himself, thinking that the daughter of a career criminal may have found the love of her life in an FBI agent.

Brennan noticed her father's eyes twinkling, "What's so amusing, Dad?"

Max sighed, "Oh, nothing…Have you ever considered writing a romantic comedy instead of all of the doom and gloom and sex that you normally write?"

"No, why would I want to write a romantic comedy?" Brennan asked confused and slightly annoyed. Her publishers had been on her case about the new book – everyone seemed to be waiting with bated breath to see if Andy survived or not.

"It seems that you are smack dab in the middle of one right now."

Russ' ears perked up, "What's this? Is Tempe in love?" he teased.

"It's none of your business – either of you. And I don't think anything that has happened in the past week is awful comedic." She stood and walked away from the table, it was then that she saw Baba's bowl and realized that her father knew. He knew that Booth had been staying there and he probably even knew exactly why.

"Sweetheart, your brother and I just want you to be happy. Right, Russ?"

Russ cleared his throat, "Right, we want you to be happy…And you're not getting any younger – you really should think about settling down."

Brennan grabbed a dishtowel and threw it, hitting Russ squarely in the face, "I don't need to settle down. I have a great career and my own house. What more do I need?"

Russ's face softened, "Tempe, you need more than all of your furniture and artifacts to fill this house."

Max nodded in agreement, "You need to find love to fill this house and I think you know where to get it from."

Brennan couldn't agree with her family more but she also couldn't openly agree with them without giving away what was going on with her and Booth. So, she just smiled and said, "We'll see…Russ, how much longer can you stay? I have a few errands to run."

"I need to be on the road in a couple of hours but I can stay here with him until you get back. Are you sure you're ok with taking care of him?"

"Of course, I am more than capable of taking care of him." She said as she slipped on her shoes and looked around for her keys – thankful that her car had been brought back from the movie set earlier that morning.

"_Him_ is sitting right here. I hate it when you talk about me like I'm not in the room." Max chided.

Russ looked sternly at his father, "Be good and go easy on Tempe – she deserves for you to be on your best behavior."

Max smiled, "I know, the woman is practically a saint."


	52. Chapter 52

"Now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up their nose  
We liked the same music we liked the same bands we liked the same clothes  
We told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things we'd ever seen  
Now I wished you would have told me I wished I could have talked to you."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Bobby Jean_

Later that night, after Max had gotten settled into her bed, Brennan slipped upstairs to take a shower. When she got out of the shower she went to her dresser to put on her pajamas and saw Booth's shirt lying in one of the drawers without giving it much thought she grabbed it and slipped it on with a pair of boxer shorts underneath – what would it hurt to sleep in his shirt? No one would know she reasoned with herself.

She had spoken to Booth earlier in the day and they decided that if would be best if she stayed home alone with her father for the night and he would drop by the following evening to check on things. Just as Brennan was about to collapse into bed she heard the doorbell. She ran downstairs and was surprised to find Angela on the other side of the door.

"Sweetie! How's your Dad?" Angela asked as she entered the house.

"He's fine…He's already in bed and I was just headed there myself."

"It's only 8:30, Bren. A little early for bedtime, isn't it."

Brennan grimaced, it was early for her to be going to bed but the previous night with Booth had robbed her of much of that night's sleep, "Yes, it is but my Dad coming home and getting the house ready for him really wore me out."

Angela eyed her friend and thought that something seemed off, "Hey Bren, whose shirt are you wearing?"

Brennan looked down at the tailored white shirt and back up at Angela, "Oh, I think it's my father's, I just grabbed it out of the laundry basket."

"Bren you're father does not wear Ralph Lauren tailored shirts _but _I know someone who does, fess up."

"Fess up?" Brennan knew she had heard this jargon before, "Oh, you mean confess?"

"Yes, why are you wearing Booth's shirt?" Angela asked as she plopped down onto the couch, making it apparent that she wasn't leaving until she got some answers.

Brennan sighed and took a seat in the chair opposite from Angela, she had so wanted to keep things between her and Booth private but now she knew that Sweets knew which probably meant that Finn knew and her father was pretty close to figuring things out on his own – she decided that she owed Angela, her best friend, some answers, "Because he left it here last night."

"Booth slept here?"

Brennan nodded.

"With you or not with you?" Angela leaned forward, searching for the truth.

Looking down at the floor Brennan admitted, "With me."

"Oh…My…God…Wha-Why…What's going on with you?" Angela was both thrilled and angry at the same time.

"Ange, I'm sorry that I haven't told you about what's been going on but…"

"So, something has been going on for awhile?" Angela stood, furious.

Brennan nodded and looked up at her friend with eyes filled with guilt, "Since his birthday."

"His birthday, you mean like 3 weeks ago, almost a month!" Angela was almost ready to walk out the door, she couldn't believe that Brennan had kept this from her for so long.

"SShhh! My Dad is sleeping. But yes, almost a month and again I am so very sorry to have kept you in the dark. Things have been complicated and I haven't been very certain of much."

"Ok, here's the deal. You and I are going outside to talk so we don't wake up your father but the only way that I'm going to leave here _not_ angry with you is if I get details, intense details. Deal?" Angela asked with eyebrows raised.

Brennan rolled her eyes and stood, "Come on, let's go." The two women made their way out to the front porch and sat down in the swing. "Where should I start?" Brennan asked.

"What happened on his birthday?"

Brennan sighed, "He kissed me in the barn or I kissed him, I don't remember who initiated it but it was intense and innate and afterwards of course he felt awful and couldn't apologize enough."

Angela smiled, "Of course."

"But after that night I knew that I wanted him. Not just physically."

"Ok, good I like where this is going."

"And then the following week we had dinner with Samantha and Sweets – that was the night my Mercedes died and Booth brought me home and we ended up having sex in the barn."

"That barn must be magical or built on top of the burial sites of hopeless romantics."

Brennan grinned, "I don't believe in magic and I know for a fact there aren't any bodies on my property…but there is something about that loft…Anyway since that night we've been slowly working things out with each other."

"Sweetie…I am so happy for you and I'd be happier if I knew more – spill!"

"I love him, I do Ange." She said with tears in her eyes, "All those years of denying any feelings for him were a waste, I know now that he's the only person…he's the only man that I could ever really love…I mean really love. Spend my life with."

Angela wrapped her arm around Brennan's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "Have you told him this?"

Brennan nodded 'yes'

"And has he…" Angela secretly crossed her fingers, she didn't want Brennan to love in vain.

"He loves me."

Angela almost started to cry herself, "Well, it's been a long time coming but everyone finds their way in their own time, huh?"

"I suppose that's correct." Turning to look at her friend, Brennan asked, "Are you still angry?"

"No…I can't be angry when you're so happy. But I do have to know."

"What?"

"You know…How is it? What is Booth like in the sack – you owe me this much."

Brennan flashed back to a similar conversation that she and Angela had had with Gwen, a conversation that Brennan pretended to not be interested in at the time but she never forgot the way Gwen described Booth's love making:

_He combines a dominant strength and power with raw passion and a desire to please in a way that I have never experienced before._

She hated the idea of agreeing with another woman about the way the man in her life made love but Gwen got it right or almost right, she left out his fierce tenderness and that ear lobe trick, still Brennan felt the need to top her in some way, "It's perfect…He's amazing and tender and…I-I…" At a loss for words she tried to sum it up the best she could, "He's…he's Booth."


	53. Chapter 53

"Now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up their nose  
We liked the same music we liked the same bands we liked the same clothes  
We told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things we'd ever seen  
Now I wished you would have told me I wished I could have talked to you."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Bobby Jean_

Later that night, after Max had gotten settled into her bed, Brennan slipped upstairs to take a shower. When she got out of the shower she went to her dresser to put on her pajamas and saw Booth's shirt lying in one of the drawers without giving it much thought she grabbed it and slipped it on with a pair of boxer shorts underneath – what would it hurt to sleep in his shirt? No one would know she reasoned with herself.

She had spoken to Booth earlier in the day and they decided that if would be best if she stayed home alone with her father for the night and he would drop by the following evening to check on things. Just as Brennan was about to collapse into bed she heard the doorbell. She ran downstairs and was surprised to find Angela on the other side of the door.

"Sweetie! How's your Dad?" Angela asked as she entered the house.

"He's fine…He's already in bed and I was just headed there myself."

"It's only 8:30, Bren. A little early for bedtime, isn't it."

Brennan grimaced, it was early for her to be going to bed but the previous night with Booth had robbed her of much of that night's sleep, "Yes, it is but my Dad coming home and getting the house ready for him really wore me out."

Angela eyed her friend and thought that something seemed off, "Hey Bren, whose shirt are you wearing?"

Brennan looked down at the tailored white shirt and back up at Angela, "Oh, I think it's my father's, I just grabbed it out of the laundry basket."

"Bren you're father does not wear Ralph Lauren tailored shirts _but _I know someone who does, fess up."

"Fess up?" Brennan knew she had heard this jargon before, "Oh, you mean confess?"

"Yes, why are you wearing Booth's shirt?" Angela asked as she plopped down onto the couch, making it apparent that she wasn't leaving until she got some answers.

Brennan sighed and took a seat in the chair opposite from Angela, she had so wanted to keep things between her and Booth private but now she knew that Sweets knew which probably meant that Finn knew and her father was pretty close to figuring things out on his own – she decided that she owed Angela, her best friend, some answers, "Because he left it here last night."

"Booth slept here?"

Brennan nodded.

"With you or not with you?" Angela leaned forward, searching for the truth.

Looking down at the floor Brennan admitted, "With me."

"Oh…My…God…Wha-Why…What's going on with you?" Angela was both thrilled and angry at the same time.

"Ange, I'm sorry that I haven't told you about what's been going on but…"

"So, something has been going on for awhile?" Angela stood, furious.

Brennan nodded and looked up at her friend with eyes filled with guilt, "Since his birthday."

"His birthday, you mean like 3 weeks ago, almost a month!" Angela was almost ready to walk out the door, she couldn't believe that Brennan had kept this from her for so long.

"SShhh! My Dad is sleeping. But yes, almost a month and again I am so very sorry to have kept you in the dark. Things have been complicated and I haven't been very certain of much."

"Ok, here's the deal. You and I are going outside to talk so we don't wake up your father but the only way that I'm going to leave here _not_ angry with you is if I get details, intense details. Deal?" Angela asked with eyebrows raised.

Brennan rolled her eyes and stood, "Come on, let's go." The two women made their way out to the front porch and sat down in the swing. "Where should I start?" Brennan asked.

"What happened on his birthday?"

Brennan sighed, "He kissed me in the barn or I kissed him, I don't remember who initiated it but it was intense and innate and afterwards of course he felt awful and couldn't apologize enough."

Angela smiled, "Of course."

"But after that night I knew that I wanted him. Not just physically."

"Ok, good I like where this is going."

"And then the following week we had dinner with Samantha and Sweets – that was the night my Mercedes died and Booth brought me home and we ended up having sex in the barn."

"That barn must be magical or built on top of the burial sites of hopeless romantics."

Brennan grinned, "I don't believe in magic and I know for a fact there aren't any bodies on my property…but there is something about that loft…Anyway since that night we've been slowly working things out with each other."

"Sweetie…I am so happy for you and I'd be happier if I knew more – spill!"

"I love him, I do Ange." She said with tears in her eyes, "All those years of denying any feelings for him were a waste, I know now that he's the only person…he's the only man that I could ever really love…I mean really love. Spend my life with."

Angela wrapped her arm around Brennan's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "Have you told him this?"

Brennan nodded 'yes'

"And has he…" Angela secretly crossed her fingers, she didn't want Brennan to love in vain.

"He loves me."

Angela almost started to cry herself, "Well, it's been a long time coming but everyone finds their way in their own time, huh?"

"I suppose that's correct." Turning to look at her friend, Brennan asked, "Are you still angry?"

"No…I can't be angry when you're so happy. But I do have to know."

"What?"

"You know…How is it? What is Booth like in the sack – you owe me this much."

Brennan flashed back to a similar conversation that she and Angela had had with Gwen, a conversation that Brennan pretended to not be interested in at the time but she never forgot the way Gwen described Booth's love making:

_He combines a dominant strength and power with raw passion and a desire to please in a way that I have never experienced before._

She hated the idea of agreeing with another woman about the way the man in her life made love but Gwen got it right or almost right, she left out his fierce tenderness and that ear lobe trick, still Brennan felt the need to top her in some way, "It's perfect…He's amazing and tender and…I-I…" At a loss for words she tried to sum it up the best she could, "He's…he's Booth."


	54. Chapter 54

"There's nothing to lose  
It's a bad break but baby we're backed  
Tonight we'll blow off the doors and honey we won't look back  
We held it in our hearts in the pourin' rain  
We made it through the heart of a hurricane  
We tore it apart and put it together again."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Don't Look Back_

After a very happy and satisfied Angela left for the night, Brennan headed back into the house just in time to hear her cell phone ringing. It was Booth calling to check on her and Max, but mainly her. She told him about her chat with Angela and he seemed pleased that Brennan was willing to let others know about them. After a quick good-bye, they hung up the phone, both forgetting to tell the other 'I love you' – it was just too new for them.

While Booth had been on the phone with Brennan he had been sitting in Swinn's driveway, he was there to say good-bye and wish them luck as they were headed to Canada in the morning to finalize the adoption.

He knocked twice on the front door and then let himself in, he found Sweets sitting at the island in the kitchen, reading the newspaper.

"Hey little buddy, you guys ready for your trip?" Booth asked as he sat down on a stool at the kitchen island.

Sweets sighed, "We're all packed and have all the documents and everything we're going to need to bring Ryan home so in that sense we're ready but…"

"It's going to be fine. Trust me. The minute you see that little boy look up at you or reach out for you, all of the apprehension you're feeling right now will melt away."

"I hope so. I've never doubted my ability to do anything, everything I've set out to do in my life has always come so easily to me but this – this is uncharted territory."

Booth laughed, "You sound like Bones – always able to do just about anything."

"Speaking of Brennan…She came to see me."

Booth leaned forward, "What did she want?"

"My blessing." Sweets said matter-of-factly

"That was…that was very un-Bones like. Or at least the Bones I use to know."

"She's grown a lot Booth. You have to see that."

"I do, it amazes me. It's…It's like me leaving caused her to become the woman I always knew she could be."

Sweets grinned, "She is pretty incredible." He thought for a minute, pondering whether or not to tell him about Brennan's response to seeing Gwen's picture, he decided that he should give his friend a hint just in case Brennan brought it up to him. "By the way, she was very spooked by a picture of Gwen in my office. She kept rambling on about how beautiful and perfect Gwen was…She seemed a little insecure about it. Just thought you should know."

"_Bones_ was insecure? _Dr._ Temperance Brennan was spooked by another woman's physical appearance? I don't think so." Booth shook his head.

"She was, trust me. She was. You should talk to her about it."

"Maybe…thanks for the heads up…Where's Finny, I want to see her before you leave."

Rolling his eyes, "She's out on the deck finishing her last pack of cigarettes. She had promised me that she's going to quit tonight, so she's having a smoke-a-thon outside."

"If you don't mind I think I'm going to go see her for a few minutes." Booth stood and headed out to the deck. He took a seat next to Finn and without saying a word grabbed a cigarette from her pack and lit it.

"Since when do you smoke?" Finn asked in amazement.

"I smoked like a chimney when I was in the Army – I quit when I joined GA, figured I needed to give up all of my addictions at once. But I can't let you sit out here all by yourself and finish off a pack."

"Thanks, Seel." She eyed him cautiously, "How are _things_?"

He blew a few rings of smoke and looked at her with a grin, "_Things_ are very good."

"Care to share any new updates?"

"What do you want to know Finny?"

"Are you in love with Temperance?"

He nodded, "Yes, I am. Very much so."

"And she loves you so now what?"

Booth shrugged, "I don't know…I really don't know. I love her and yet I can't even begin to imagine what a life with her would be like other than I know that I'd be happy."

Finn smiled, "So, you're saying it's an uncertain but happy future?"

"Exactly." He smashed the cigarette into the ashtray and stuck his tongue out at Finn, "That was disgusting, I am _so_ glad I quit."

"I wish I had never started again but the idea of becoming a mother just sent my brain into overdrive."

Booth leaned over and bumped her shoulder, "You're going to be an amazing mother, Samantha and Sweets is going to be an excellent father you have nothing to be stressed about."

"Thanks, Seeley…We really want you to be a big part of his life especially since neither of us have family in the area, Uncle Seeley is going to be in high demand."

He smiled, "I'm looking forward to it. I am pretty certain that the chances of me having another child are slim to none."

She searched his face for signs of sadness or regret but there were none, "And you're ok with that?"

"I really am…I have Parker and he is an amazing kid…And Bones and I, we… I think that if she and I get to a good place, which I believe we will, we're going to be more than enough for each other."


	55. Chapter 55

"Well I'm a little down under, but I'm feeling O.K.  
Got a little lost along the way  
I'm just around the corner to the light of day  
Well, I'm just around the corner to the light of day."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Light Of Day_

Later that night, Angela crept into bed with a sleeping Hodgins full of herself and her ability to see the big picture. In her heart, she had always known that Booth and Brennan belonged together – she had silenced her heart for a number of years but was thrilled that she had been right in the long run. She wanted to share her news with Hodgins but he looked far too adorable to wake. So, instead she lied awake thinking about the long road her two friends had taken to find each other and there was a part of her that felt sorry for them, they had missed so much time. Then, she realized that it probably made their time together _now_ all the more special and treasured. She fell asleep that night feeling that everything was finally right with the world.

&&&&&&&&&&

Brennan paced the second floor of her house for hours after Angela had left. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that she couldn't quiet her mind. She started making a list of the things that she was sure of, things that had been resolved, trying to determine what exactly wasn't allowing her to rest; she and Booth were in love, she was quite certain that her father knew, she had told Angela everything and Sweets…The reason she couldn't relax finally hit her – Gwen had followed her home from Sweets' house.

She stopped in the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The image she saw wasn't that of herself at age 35, it was of the girl she had been at age 12 – skinny, quiet, and invisible to the rest of the world. As an adult, Temperance Brennan was able to acknowledge that men found her attractive – she took excellent care of herself - and when pushed she could even admit that she was pretty. But as she stared at herself she couldn't help but think of Gwen and the photo in Sweets' home office. She felt that she and the little girl she had been didn't quite match up to the woman Booth had loved and lost. It wasn't just Gwen's beauty that plagued Brennan's mind, it was the fact that she had been so much more than _just_ a pretty face and desirable build – she had been full of fire and passion, probably from birth. Fire and passion had been foreign to Brennan for most of her life, they were things that she had to learn and she feared that she hadn't studied enough to give Booth what he needed.

&&&&&&&&&&

Sweets and Finn sat quietly during their layover at JFK International on their way to Toronto.

Sweets wrapped a protective arm around his wife, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be ok.

She looked over at him with confusion, "How are we going to explain to him that he doesn't look like us?"

"Sammy, we've talked about this… Ryan is not going to care that he looks different from us until he's much older and by that time we will have reinforced over and over that he's special because he was chosen, out of all the children in the world that needed a home – we chose him…Besides, the kid is going to be so spoiled that he won't even have time to worry about that kind of stuff and nonsense."

Finn smiled at her husband, "You're going to be a good father."

He squeezed his arm tighter around her, "Ah, Sammy that's only because you're going to such an excellent mother that I'm going to have to rise to the occasion."

&&&&&&&&&&

It was late and she technically wasn't due back to work for another 6 hours but Sarah sat in her office combing through the umpteen emails that she had received during the two weeks she had been touring around with her GG. It seemed that Booth had gotten a little over-involved with the cases that she and Brennan had been working on. She sighed to herself and wondered if it would always be this way. She hoped that once the new unit was in place, he wouldn't have time to be so focused on her work but she got the feeling that no amount of work in the world would keep him from looking over her shoulder whenever Brennan was involved.

Being on tour with GG had been an amazing experience and regardless of the pile of work she had lying before her, she was happy to be back. While out on the road, she didn't do much other than gossip with the other wives and girlfriends, eat fried food and drink beer, she even got bored with the shows after the first week. She had no purpose out there and a purpose-less life just wasn't for her.

&&&&&&&&&&

Booth had fallen asleep on the couch after returning home from Swinn's place, he woke up around 3am and headed to the bedroom. Before he fell back asleep, he smiled as he thought of Brennan and how at the end of everything he had ended up with her. At first he wondered what life would have been like if he had just expressed how he felt about her during those first years that they had worked together but then he cursed himself because he knew that if he had been with Brennan sooner, he never would have met Gwen.

Even though losing her nearly did him in, he never regretted the time he had spent with Gwen and he suspected that he was a part of a far greater plan than he could ever comprehend. They, him and Brennan, had to take the long way around, neither of them would have been ready for the other until now.


	56. Chapter 56

"Times were tough love was not enough  
So you said sorry Johnny I'm gone, gone, gone  
You said my act was funny  
But we both knew what was missing honey  
So you let out on your own."

- Bruce Springsteen, _When You're Alone_

Sarah timidly entered Booth's office, even though her vacation was something that he had been completely copacetic with, she still hated the idea that she skipped town almost as soon as he became her boss.

"McCready, welcome back." He looked up from his computer when he saw her enter his office.

"Thank you, sir-I mean, Booth." She took a seat across from his desk.

"How was the tour and your _guitar guy_?" He asked in an almost mocking term.

"It was fun, G is great and he's incredibly happy being on the road…" She stopped in mid-sentence, not sure what else to say about the experience.

Booth grinned, he could always tell when a woman was holding back from him, "But?"

"No buts." She crossed her arms defensively across her chest.

"Yes, there is."

Frustrated, she stomped her feet on the floor, "Fine, I did have fun and he is happy out there but I'm not. It's a wandering life and I know that 'All who wander are not lost' and all of that but it's not for me."

Booth nodded this felt oddly familiar to him, "So, what about the engagement?"

She shrugged, "I don't know…We'll see in the Fall when all the festivals are over, I guess…But for the time being, it's over." Tears started to sting her eyes and to keep them at bay, she righted her shoulders and continued, "I really just want to get back to work – any new cases?"

"Nothing right now…Uh, Bones is going to be out a little longer than she anticipated so if anything does come in the rest of the team at the Jeffersonian is available to help you out."

"How's her dad?" Sarah had gotten the news about Max's heart attack from Angela the night GG played The Gorge in Washington, it had spurred her to come home a little early.

"Max will be fine. He's a tough old guy."

"That's good news. How's Brennan holding up?"

"Bones is…She-she's fine."

"And he's staying with her? God, she must hate that!" Sarah asked knowing how much her partner needed her space – they were alike in that way.

"Actually, he was staying there before the heart attack and between you and me, I think she likes having him there. I think she got _way _more than she bargained for with that big old house."

She couldn't help but grin at the way Booth's eyes sparkled when he talked about Brennan, "You could be right." Sarah stood and got ready to head back to her own office, "I'll be down the hall if you need anything."

Booth stood to walk her out, "You know McCready, you should really talk to Bones about the choice you made."

"What choice?"

"The one where you decided to come back and live your life, leaving G out on the road – she made a similar choice once, she might have some valuable advice to offer."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She looked at her new boss and suddenly realized that he wasn't nearly as tightly wound as she had originally thought, "By the way, nice belt buckle…Cap." She quickly exited his office with a wink and laughed all the way back to her own.


	57. Chapter 57

"You're so afraid of being somebody's fool  
Not walkin' tough baby, not walkin' cool  
You walk cool, but darlin', can you walk the line  
And face the ties that bind  
The ties that bind  
Now you can't break the ties that bind."

Bruce Springsteen, _The Ties That Bind_

Shortly before lunch Max found Brennan sitting on the front porch swing, staring out at her expansive property.

As he took a seat next to her, he asked, "Care to share with me what kept you walking the floors all night?"

Brennan shrugged, "Not just one thing, I have a lot on my mind."

Max laid a hand on his daughter's leg, "You may be able to lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me. I know that there is something between you and Booth and matters of the heart are the only things that I could see keeping you up at night."

"Can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

"Even though I know its not hypothetical?" Max grinned at his girl.

"Yes, it'll be easier for me."

"Fine, ask away."

Brennan sighed, "I know that you've been without Mom for a long time but if you met a woman who you weren't quite as physically attracted to as you were to her but this new woman was your best friend and knew you through and through, could you overlook the fact that-"

Max cut her off, "Yes, I could. Most people would but I don't think that's an issue for you and Booth."

"Dad, I told you the question was hypothetical."

"And I told you that I knew it wasn't…Look, I know that you're my daughter and that its expected for me to tell you that you're beautiful but you truly are and a man like Booth could have any number of beautiful women but he wants you, not just because you're close friends or that you've been there by his side all these years." Max paused, waiting to make sure that his words were sinking in, "He looks at you like a man in love but also a man in lust. The former I am thrilled with, the latter not so much."

She smiled at her father, "Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime sweetheart. I'm going to head in and start one of those vegetarian meals that you want me eating, should I make enough for two?"

Brennan nodded 'yes', "I'll be in shortly."

Once her father had left her alone Brennan started to see that what her father said was true – even if he was her father. Booth could have his pick of any number of single women even before now. Once they had become partners, he dated sporadically. Looking back she could see that he had been dedicated to her, not just professionally but personally as well. He hated it when she dated and he was constantly deflecting other men's advances toward her during that time. Gwen had come along and she was something that he just couldn't say no to, especially since he had drawn a line between himself and Brennan.

She thought back to every compliment he had ever given her, he had never failed to tell her that looked beautiful for special events, he had even once told her that people didn't realize that she was a genius at first glance because of how attractive she was and then she remembered that his decision to come back to DC had been swayed by her in the Gilda dress and her asking him to Come Home.

She reconciled in her mind that yes, Booth loved her because they were so close, because he knew that he could depend on her and because she knew him so very well and she realized that he was in fact attracted to her. She knew that he had loved Gwen but that Gwen couldn't have been all of those things to him. And Brennan was certain that she, herself, wasn't all of those things all the time but she now knew that she didn't have to compete with a perfect ghost.


	58. Chapter 58

"It ought to be easy ought to be simple enough  
Man meets woman and they fall in love  
But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough  
And you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above

if you want to ride on down in through this tunnel of love."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Tunnel Of Love_

After having dinner and making small talk with Max, Booth and Brennan headed outside to be alone. Booth took a seat on one of the chaise lounges.

"Come here, Beautiful."

Brennan whipped around at the sound of Booth calling her 'beautiful', "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"You have called me beautiful or gorgeous over a dozen times since you got here. It's nice but not something I prefer to hear over and over – it loses its meaning when it's said too much."

Booth hadn't realized how hard he had been trying to make it clear to her that she had nothing to be insecure about, "Sorry, I just…"

"What? You just what?"

"When I got here tonight and said 'Hey Beautiful', your face lit up and I wondered if I had ever told you before that you were." He stood and took a few steps toward her.

"Why would you wonder that? It was never appropriate for you to tell me that before." Brennan rounded her shoulders, trying to remain stoic.

Booth nodded, mocking her, "Right, because you and I were always so very, very appropriate with each other."

"I just meant that you never had a reason to before. That our relationship was based on me as the brains and you as the muscle."

He bridged the gap between them and took her face in his hands, "The reason to tell you that you're beautiful didn't change between now and when I met you, the reason to say it is simply because it's true." He kissed her, first on the lips then quickly on the nose.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

He could hear uncertainty in her voice and decided to be completely honest with her, "I just want you to know how incredibly attracted I am to you and always have been." He smiled, "Since the first time you insulted met at a crime scene – which if you remember was where we first met – I have been unyieldingly attracted to you."

"Really?" She asked through a smile.

"Really." He rested his forehead on hers.

"Even when you…Never mind, it's not important." Brennan shook her head, angry at inquisitive mind for ruining a nice moment.

He pulled back to look at her, "Yes, even when I was with other women, even Gwen. It's not an admirable thing for me to say but my attraction for you never waned."

Brennan was confused, "You were attracted to me but in love with Gwen? How is that possible? She was so…so…"

Booth knew exactly what Brennan was trying to say, "Yes, she was beautiful and sexy and I loved her but…" he trailed off.

Brennan feared that his end to that sentence would be 'but she died and you didn't'. "But what?"

"She wasn't my best friend, my confidant. My true North. With you I get a beautiful, sexy, exciting and intelligent woman and so much more – more than I can probably handle but I'm very willing to give it a shot." He grinned.

"I'm sorry, I just got a little worried that you'd never be as attracted to me as you were to her." She leaned her relieved head against his chest.

For a moment Booth felt like he had put out a major fire until he started to think about Brennan's attraction to him, "What about me?" he asked.

"What about you?"

"Have you always been attracted to me?"

Brennan nodded, "From the first time I insulted you."

"Oh, you never…I just always wondered."

"Give me a break Booth, you know you're an extremely visually stimulating man."

"But that's it? I'm a good-looking guy? You see, I've always worried that I wasn't good enough for you."

"You? Why wouldn't you be good enough for me?"

"When was the last time you dated a guy who had _just_ a bachelor's degree, who spoke just _one_ language? When was the last time you were with just a regular man?"

She backed up to get a better look at him, "You are so far and away from a regular man, Booth!"

"How? In what way? Because I go to the gym 6 days a week?"

Brennan started to smile when she realized the irony of the moment, "So, you're worried that you're not smart enough and too attractive and I'm worried that I'm not attractive enough and too smart?"

Booth nodded, "That about sums it up." He grinned when he saw absurd nature of their discussion, "We…Are…Ridiculous."


	59. Chapter 59

"Well now on a summer night in a dusky room  
Come a little piece of the Lord's undying light  
Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon  
In his mother's arms it was all the beauty I could take  
Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make  
In a world so hard and dirty so fouled and confused  
Searching for a little bit of God's mercy  
I found living proof."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Living Proof_

A few nights later, Sweets and Finn were lying in their bed, facing each other but both staring at the little boy nestled in between them. They had officially been parents for 5 days and in that time they had slept very little and never at the same time. Sweets was in awe of the peace that he felt when he looked at his son, it was something that the ever-vigilant young doctor never could have prepared for.

Finn noticed the change in him almost immediately, Sweets took to his new role like a kitten to a litter box – he just knew what he was supposed to do. She was less certain of herself. Intellectually, she knew that she was capable of providing Ryan with the care he needed but she silently questioned why she hadn't connected with him as quickly as her husband had.

"Do you think we should put him in his crib?" She whispered.

"I suppose. He can't sleep between us forever, can he?" Sweets grinned as he rolled off the bed.

Finn watched him pick the sleeping boy up, "He'll be ok in there, right?"

"Sam, he'll be fine. And if he isn't we're right across the hall. But he has to get acquainted with his bed, in his home and he can't do that in here with us."

"I know you're right. I just think he'll be scared if he wakes up alone." She stood and rubbed her son's back.

Sweets turned and headed toward the nursery, "More than likely, he will be but then we'll be there and he'll know."

"He'll know what?" She asked as she followed him.

"That we're his parents and that when he's frightened and needs us – we'll be there. It's important that he knows that we're here no matter what."

After placing Ryan in his crib they both paused, waiting for him to stir, to wake up but he settled right into his new bed. They quietly shuffled back into their own room, collapsing on the bed.

"How can you be so sure about all of this?" Finn rolled over to face him. "I haven't seen you panic or second guess yourself once all week."

"I just…I get it. All of it and I don't know why or how." He reached out and smoothed her hair off of her face, "What I don't get is how _you_ can be so unsure about all of this…You thought I hadn't noticed."

She shrugged, embarrassed that she had been unable to hide her doubts, "What if…I don't have the instincts that you do, I'm the woman – I should have the instincts!"

"Shh, you'll wake him up. Come here." He pulled her to his chest and started to rub her back, "It'll come to you…I just have more experience at being someone's caretaker."

"What if it doesn't come to me?" she whispered.

"Samantha, you're worried and that's understandable. But your fears are unnecessary – we are going to be wicked good parents."

"You're sure?"

"Of course, we have all the resources needed to do this."

"I know that we're both trained doctors and financially secure and..."

"That's not what I meant." Sweets said, cutting her off.

She sat up to face him, "Then what did you mean?"

"We have each other and we are very capable together." He punctuated his statement with a kiss on her cheek.

Finn smiled, "How could I have forgotten?"

"Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul  
I want control right now  
talk about a dream  
Try to make it real  
you wake up in the night  
With a fear so real  
Spend your life waiting  
for a moment that just don't come  
Well, don't waste your time waiting."

-Bruce Springsteen, _Badlands  
_

"How was the meeting?" Booth asked as he walked into Brennan's office. It was the first day that she had been in since Max's heart attack and by the look on her face it was clear she was thrilled to be back at work.

She looked up quickly, "It was fine."

"Just fine?"

"It was nothing more than I expected, we talked about Cam leaving and the steps that need to be taken to fill her position." Brennan couldn't look up at him, she knew what his next question would be.

"Did they offer it to you?" He asked as he moved further into her office and planted himself directly in front of her desk.

"They did but…I'm not interested."

"How-Why not?"

She suspected that whichever way she chose to answer his question would start an argument so she decided to be honest, she looked up at him and sighed, "Because, I'm not ready to leave the field. Not yet."

"Did you take into consideration that taking the position would give you a more normal schedule?" He hoped that she understood that he was hinting at more time with him.

"I did but it would also mean having to hire a medical examiner and a new forensic anthropologist. It doesn't seem right. Besides, what would I do in an office all day?"

"What do you think I do in my office all day?" Booth couldn't help but hear her statement as insult to him.

"That's different – you're different."

"How?"

"In some way weren't you always eyeing the type of position you have now? Deputy Director, heading up a new and very prestigious unit?"

Booth shifted his weight back and forth, trying to remain calm, "In some way didn't you ever want to run things here?"

Brennan shrugged, "Not entirely…The idea of things being done to my specifications is appealing but if I'm going to stop doing field work…" She trailed off when she realized where her train of thought was headed.

"What? Finish your thought, you are entitled to it."

"Booth, I'm a scientist and if I'm going to stop being in the field I would be wasting my skills that I have worked extremely hard to acquire. So, if I were to stop working on cases here I would feel the need to move on. I'm going to keep the position I have now."

"Move on? What does that mean?"

With each response Booth was getting louder and louder, "Can we talk about this later?" Brennan pleaded.

"No, we can't. I need an explanation. Why is Cam's job not for you?"

"It wouldn't be her position exactly, I would be the director of the lab, I wouldn't get to actually work on cases like she does…I just meant that I would feel the need to start responding to some of the requests for excavations and digs that I've been ignoring for the past 7 years."

"You love it here, I know you do."

"You're right I do but not enough to sit behind a desk all day. Not enough to watch everyone else do the work I love while I supervise and go home every night at 5pm."

"Do you love me enough to go home every night at 5pm?"

"Booth, you can't ask me that. It's not fair. How I feel about you has nothing to do with the direction I take my career in."

"Yes it does! If you decide to leave here and go trekking through the Andes that has everything to do with me! Before Christmas, you told me that you knew that the people in your life mattered more than the work, that the work was secondary – did you forget that?"

"No! But I can't do a job that's going to make me unhappy just to make you happy. I'm just going to keep the job I have now, end of story."

Booth leaned down close to Brennan's ear, "I liked the idea of you taking Cam's job because it would be good for us. It would have given us more time – together. I'm just sorry you don't see it that way."

Brennan watched as he backed away from her desk and walked out of her office. She called out to him, "What about tonight? Aren't we supposed to go to Sweets'?"

He turned quickly, "Yeah, I guess I'll see you there."

"You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take  
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks  
Out on to an open road you ride until the day  
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay."

- Bruce Springsteen, _The Price You Pay_

Just as Booth was getting ready to leave the office for the day, Sweets unexpectedly stopped in.

"Hey, Booth. How are things?" Sweets asked as he popped his head in the door.

"What are you doing here? I was getting ready to head over to your house."

"I had a few files to pick up before the weekend and Sam's brother just got into town so I thought I would give them time to catch up."

"How is Ed?"

"He's good, finally leaving Penn. He's joining a practice here in the city."

"I guess Baba has a new vet, huh?"

"You do – Samantha wouldn't have it any other way…you look awful."

Booths eyes narrowed on Sweets, "Thanks, I appreciate that. You don't look so great yourself."

"Yeah, but I have a new baby at home. What's your excuse?"

"It's nothing…work."

Sweets shook his head, "No, it's not."

"Fine…It's Bones – she was offered Cam's position at the Jeffersonian and she turned it down. She said she's not ready to leave the field." Booth leaned back in his chair.

Sweets took a seat and casually asked, "Why does that bother to you?"

"If she took the job we would have more time together – I thought that she would want that."

"So, the two of you have made a declaration of intent regarding the status and direction of your relationship?"

"Well…No, but Bones knows me. She knows that I would never take _us_ lightly."

"Yes, she knows you and you know her just as well. Therefore, you know that she would never take her work lightly, right?"

Booth glared at Sweets, "I will never like the fact that you're right so often."

Sweets smirked, "It's not about being right or wrong, it's about seeing things from a different perspective. What I don't understand is why you're surprised by Brennan's decision?"

"I thought that her priorities had changed, that _she_ had changed."

"She has. She is not the same avoidant, emotionally stunted woman that I first met. But that doesn't mean that she's not the same person I first met."

An exasperated Booth, asked, "What? I am not following you and your therapy mumbo-jumbo."

"Ok…Even with all the emotional growth she's experienced these past few years, she's still an overly-rational person and she always will be, regardless of how open and trusting she becomes." Noticing the obvious confusion in Booth's face, he continued, "If you have a-a…blob of pitch black paint and then you decide that you want a white blob so you add a few drops of white paint – now you have a dark gray shade. No matter how much white you add it will continue to remain a shade of gray. It may get lighter and lighter but the black undertones remain."

"So, she's always going to think before she feels?"

"Not necessarily, I think that she's allowing herself to feel more and more but she defaults to _empirical Dr. Brennan_ when she finds herself in a state of confusion because that's not something she experiences often."

Booth nodded, "That makes sense, really it does but she didn't seem confused this afternoon. She was calm and focused."

"Of course she was and there was a time when you knew to look past that to see what was happening underneath – did you do try to do that today?"

Shaking his head, he knew that Sweets was right. Booth answered quietly, "No…I just…"

Sweets sighed and leaned forward, "You just saw one more thing not working out the way you envisioned it and you overreacted."


	60. Chapter 60

Normally I wouldn't post so many chaps at once but I wanted to finish the story for everyone who has been asking me...The next installment will start later this week! Thanks for Reading!!!

"A friend of mine became a father last night  
When we spoke in his voice I could hear the light."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Valentine's Day  
_

As everyone gathered at Swinn's house to welcome Ryan Finn Sweets home, Finn sat back and took in all the of the blessings they had received. Family, friends and a new baby filled her home with more than she every thought possible.

"So, Finny how's motherhood treating you?" Booth asked as he took a seat next to her on the couch.

"Not as well as fatherhood is treating Lance, it's like he was born to be a father."

"It'll take some time but you'll get there, Finn. Sweets is a natural born caretaker – for some people it's a little longer."

"How long did it take you?" She asked, with eyes pleading to tell her something reassuring.

"I was like Sweets, the minute I held Parker in my arms I knew that he was the reason I was put here but it took Rebecca a few weeks to get the hang of things but she did and now…now she's an excellent mother. I could never ask for a better mother to my son. The mother has the harder job but I think in the end, you'll find that's it much more rewarding."

Finn looked over at Booth's grin and couldn't help but smile back, "Thanks Seeley…How are things with you and Temperance – you guys have been here for two hours and I haven't noticed you talk to each other at all."

"We had an argument earlier today. So, I'm keeping my distance until it appears she's cooled off a little."

"What did you argue about?" Finn was anxious to hear about someone else's problems.

"I think we have different opinions of where we're headed and what we want for the future." Booth shrugged, not sure of what else to say.

"Seeley, do not rush her into this new phase of her life. She's a complex woman."

"Hey, I more than anyone know how complicated she is. But she made the first move, she told me she loved me first and I'm sorry for thinking that she wanted a future with me."

"I think she does want a future with you but remember a future with you doesn't mean that it has to be the future you want. You're two separate people – find a common ground."

Sweets joined them on the couch with Ryan who had just woken up. "You want to hold him Booth?"

"Of course." Booth took the still-sleepy Ryan from Sweets and stared at the little boy.

Finn noticed the look of awe and happiness that came over Booth as he held her son, "Are you sure that you don't want any more?"

"Finn, I told you – I have Parker and I am blessed. I, of course, would welcome an addition to my family but only if it feels right."

"That's a very mature approach to things Booth." Sweets pointed out, "I'm surprised."

"Well, Sweetness someone told me very recently that I need to stop overreacting because my life doesn't work out the way I want it to." He handed Ryan back to Sweets and stood up, "I'm going to get a drink, you guys want anything?"

They both shook their heads 'no' and watched him walk away.

"That may be the first time in 6 years of knowing him that I feel like he actually listened to me." Sweets said to Finn with an obvious look of pride filling his face.

"You do give great advice – maybe he's finally realized that."

"Maybe…How's Edward seem?"

"He's ok, I guess. Didn't have much to say to earlier which isn't unusual…It just kills me because we use to be so close and now I feel like Sarah knows more about him and his life than I do."

"They are close and you can't fault him for turning to someone other than his sister."

"I know but we're only 13 months apart – we were practically twins and now since I'm married he feels like he can't talk to me – that hurts."

Sweets put his arm around his wife and pulled her close, "I know Sammy but now that he's moved back here things should change. He'll see that you didn't chose me over him, you just chose to grow up."

"Thanks, Lance. He's just been so unhappy for the past few years…"

Sweets looked across the room and saw Edwards talking with Sarah, "I think him being back here is going to make a world of difference. Look at him with Sarah."

Finn sighed, "He does seem 100% happier with her, doesn't he? Always has, since the day they met in college – they've always been happiest together."

Sweets nodded, "He does seem happy with her, now if her GG just wasn't in the picture, huh?"

She grinned, "I know – even if they've always said they're just friends."

"Friends don't make each other light up like that…Like Brennan and Booth, they may be the last to see what everyone else does."

Finn rolled her eyes, "Let's just hope it doesn't take them eight years to figure that out."

"Well your hair shone in the sun  
I was so high I was the lucky one  
Then I came crashing down like a drunk on a barroom floor  
Searching for my beautiful reward  
Searching for my beautiful reward."

- Bruce Springsteen, _My Beautiful Reward_

Sarah slowly approached Brennan, who seemed to be a million miles away.

"Hey, Brennan can I ask you a question?"

Brennan turned to her partner, "Sure, what do you need?"

"Well, you know that G and I have been having problems, with him wanting to be on the road and me wanting to stay here and work."

Brennan nodded.

"I was wondering, why did you stay?" Sarah asked Brennan quietly.

"Where? When?"

"Booth told me that you once had to choose between your life and being with someone you loved."

Brennan eyed her partner cautiously, "Booth told you that?"

Sarah nodded, feeling that she had crossed a line with Brennan. "It's just that…Well, when I got back from vacation…I told Booth that I couldn't spend my life on the road following G around, that his life wasn't for me and Booth mentioned that once upon a time you made a similar choice and I just wondered how you knew it was the right one?"

Closing her eyes, Brennan sighed, "I didn't…I didn't know it was the right choice at the time."

"But you made the decision and never looked back, kept moving forward, right?"

"I did but my situation was different…I had only known Sully, that was his name Tim Sullivan…He wanted me to take a year of and sail around the Caribbean with him and he was handsome and funny and interesting but…I had only known him for a few months and I wasn't in love with him – I think I could have loved him but…I was a very different person back then."

Sarah could see Brennan's level of uncomfortable rising, "I'm sorry – I shouldn't have brought this up."

"No, its fine. I just hadn't thought about it in a long time." Brennan leaned against the wall and continued, "I stayed because…because it was the sensible thing to do. It wasn't rational for me to go off and leave my work behind."

"Right, because you needed to live your own life."

"I can tell you that if the same choice was laid out in front of me right now, I wouldn't have stayed."

"So, you regret not going with this guy?" Sarah asked, she never thought of Brennan as the type of person who had regrets.

Brennan shook her head, "No…My turning Sully down, saying no to his offer of love ended up giving me the chance to…Staying helped me realize that I should've gone."

Sarah laughed lightly, "I don't follow…Honestly, what should I do?"

Brennan flashed back to a similar conversation she had with Booth. When she couldn't decide if she should go with Sully, he told her to go because he thought it was best for her. He had been so very wrong and she didn't want to make the same mistake. "I don't know what you should do but I can tell you that when you figure out what you want – don't waste any time."

"How do I figure it out?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not the best person to talk to about this type of thing. Booth and Angela understand better than me…I guess what I'm trying to say is that I should've ignored my logic and followed my heart but at the time I didn't even know that was possible. I only learned that there was a difference between what your mind thinks and what your heart wants because I stayed."

"How long did it take? To understand that?" Sarah felt like she was on the verge of a major discovery.

"A long time…years." Brennan looked across the room and saw Booth talking and laughing with Finn and something inside of her clicked, "There is a small part of me that wishes it hadn't taken so long but the rest of me marvels at how things worked out in the end…Excuse me."

Sarah watched Brennan walk across the room and whisper something in Booth's ear causing him to lose interest in everyone and everything. As she watched them walk, together, into another room, Sarah was struck by the notion that she was rarely able to get G to look away from the TV let alone ignore an entire room of people for her.

"Don't run back inside  
darling you know just what I'm here for  
So you're scared and you're thinking  
That maybe we ain't that young anymore  
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night."

- Bruce Springsteen, _Thunder Road  
_

When Edward noticed that Sarah was standing all alone, he moved toward her. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, for the most part. I'm just trying to figure a few things out." She looked over at her friend, really her best friend, "Didn't we always think that life was going to get easier as we got older?"

"We did, but it doesn't. I thought all was well in my Sarah's universe? Great job, great fiancé…What's not easy about this?"

Sarah sighed, "Maybe those things aren't as great as I thought they were…"

Edward slipped his arm around Sarah's hip, "I know work is good so what 's the issue with G?"

She looked up at him, knowing that the minute she said the truth out loud to him it would be real, "I-I just…I'm not sure if things are going to work out or not and I won't see him again for a few months so…"

He turned toward her and placed both hands on her shoulder, "Sarah, you know that I have always stood by your decisions, no matter how bad they were but you deserve more than this."

She buried her head in his chest, overwhelmed at how hard all of this was on her, "Thank you…I'm glad that you're here, I've missed you so much."

Edward looked over her head and whispered, "Not as much as I've missed you."

Once in the other room Booth turned to face Brennan, 'I'm sorry' was written all over his face. "Look Bones, I'm sorry about the way I stormed out of your office earlier – that wasn't fair. I got mad over something that has little to do with me."

Brennan sighed, "Booth – it has every thing to do with you. The problem is I've never had to make a decision and consider anyone else. But I _want _to have to consider you when I make my decisions."

Booth smiled, "That's very good to know…So, are you still going to stay in the field?"

Brennan shook her head, "No."

"So, you're going to take Cam's job?"

"No." She smiled coyly

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I have a lot of options open to me at this time that I will be considering carefully. We should really get back into the other room, apparently Angela and Hodgins have a big announcement for all of us."

"Hodgins and Angela can wait…Bones, I am not loving this vagueness. Can you give me a hint about your options?"

Brennan grinned and snaked her arms around his neck, "I don't want to prematurely share anything with you but I want you to know that no decision I make will be made on my own."

"So, you want me to have a say in your decision?" Booth asked in awe.

"Of course, isn't that what you want?"

Booth nodded, "It is, I just had gotten to a place where I stopped expecting to get what I want."

Brennan reached up and kissed him gently on his lips, "Do you want me?"

As Booth pulled her closer, he nodded 'yes'

"Well, you have me and I guarantee that the decision I make with benefit both us."

"You promise?"

"I do."

The End

Thanks for reading! The next and _final_ installment of this story will be titled _Predestined Sweetness_ and I intend to have the first chapter posted sometime on Monday – I'll add the new story's link here.


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